A widow who won a legal battle over her husband’s death claimed she was forced to take action after council bosses treated her with “absolute defiance”.
Katrina Ronald, 55, from Kelty, took action against Perth and Kinross Council after husband William was fatally struck by a bin lorry while cycling in Kinross-shire.
A four-year dispute followed the local authority’s insistence the RAF veteran was to blame for the accident.
After a rare civil trial, a jury ruled Katrina and her three daughters should be compensated because the council was partly to blame.
Katrina said she hopes her victory will inspire other victims, survivors and bereaved families to pursue justice.
She said: “I honestly couldn’t care less about compensation as I have my own means to live – I raised a legal action to get answers.
“I honestly think the council would have done more if their lorry killed a dog instead of my husband.”
Shared blame
William, 46, died on May 25 2018 near the village of Cleish after he rounded a blind bend and collided with the lorry.
Police investigated the crash but prosecutors ruled out any criminal action against the lorry driver or council.
Katrina said: “I felt like everyone was saying William, someone who devoted his life to his country, didn’t matter.
“With no prosecution the council dug their heels in, treated us with absolute defiance and basically said, ‘your husband is 100% to blame so go away’.
“It made me sick with anger but instead of feeling brow-beaten and rejected it actually fired me up more.”
In 2019 Katrina engaged Digby Brown Solicitors but negotiations with the council failed.
Katrina’s civil action was later escalated to a jury trial at the Court of Session in Edinburgh – the highest civil court in the country.
After hearing evidence for four days jurors concluded William was 58% responsible – for taking the bend too quickly – while the bin lorry driver bore the rest of the blame because of the vehicle’s position on the road.
The compensation order to Katrina and her daughters Eden, Harmony and Honey was reduced accordingly from £1.3 million to around £550,000.
Vindication after ‘inhuman’ treatment
Katrina said: “I could not accept that someone would lay 100% of the blame at William’s feet so for me the court case was not about proving William was right but about proving the council was wrong – and we did that.
“We now have a black and white ruling to prove the council was wrong in their argument and I feel vindicated for that.
“Bigger picture though, Perth and Kinross Council need to take a long, hard look at themselves and their policies around dealing with bereaved families because the way they treated us was, frankly, inhuman and is actually what sparked this whole process.
“From day one they didn’t show empathy but I wasn’t going to just meekly bow down because me, the girls and William deserved better.
“My youngest daughter, who was seven-years-old when her dad died, wanted to know the specifics of how he died.
“I didn’t want to be in a position where my only answer is ‘I don’t know’ and I certainly didn’t want to be in a position where I had to tell her ‘well, I could have tried to get answers but I didn’t try’.
“To anyone else out there who has lost someone or is caught up in these kinds of cases – keep going.
“Take whatever pain and anger you have and use it to motivate you and sharpen your thinking.
“You’ll get the truth and answers you need. You’ll get your justice.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “We are very aware of how difficult the loss of Mr Ronald has been for his family.
“The civil case brought against the council was dealt with by our insurers and we note the verdict of the jury.
“Our thoughts continue to be with Mrs Ronald and her family.”
Rare civil trials
Innes Laing, Partner at Digby Brown Solicitors in Kirkcaldy, led the legal action.
He said: “Civil trials are extremely rare as most cases are settled out of court via negotiations – I think less than 2% of personal injury actions actually end up in front of a sheriff or judge.
“I’m genuinely moved by the sustained drive, strength, dignity and patience shown by Katrina and her children because it’s not easy to hold fast for so long.
“Katrina is also completely right – all bereaved families deserve answers and empathy and I hope others out there, from victims to responsible third parties, take note of the lessons from this rare but extremely important legal action.”
