A man has told a court how he watched in horror as his father was killed by a falling tree.
Norman Robertson said his father, also Norman, died almost instantly when the 60ft tree fell on top of him as they worked near St Andrews on May 14. The two men were clearing land on the Brigton Estate owned by Tory MEP John Purvis when tragedy struck.
Mr Robertson Sr, a timber merchant who had worked in the industry for more than 40 years, suffered massive ”crushing” injuries.
A fatal accident inquiry at Cupar Sheriff Court was told that the 67-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene just minutes after the tree fell.
Mr Robertson Jr (37) said he had been living with his parents at the family home in Springfield and working at the estate with his father for about six weeks. The pair had been attempting to fell the tree when the accident happened. A sledgehammer snapped while they were using it to drive wedges into a cut in the trunk made with a chainsaw.
Mr Robertson Jr described how he was ”keeping an eye” on the half-cut tree while his father turned his attention to another tree.
”My dad was in a bit of a hurry that day to be honest and the decision was made that I would watch the first tree and he would fell another one,” he told the inquiry.
”My dad started felling another tree in front of the unfelled one I was watching. He successfully felled the second tree and it was left lying in front of the first one.”
It was as Mr Robertson Sr began hacking off branches on the tree he had just downed that tragedy struck.
”The wind was swirling around and it whipped the unfelled tree up a bit and then it just snapped right off,” Mr Robertson Jr said. ”I realised it was falling right in front of my dad so I shouted and screamed at him but he could not hear me.
”I started running toward him … but the tree struck him on the head and then crushed his shoulders. He ended up face down underneath the tree.”
Mr Robertson said he knew ”almost instantly” that his father had not survived the impact.
”There was blood coming from his mouth and his whole face was just blue,” he said. ”I grabbed his chainsaw and cut a section from the tree so I could lift it off him.
”I then pulled him up so he could maybe breathe but I knew then he was dead.”
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Mr Robertson checked for a pulse before phoning the emergency services and his mother.
”When I called the ambulance I said: ‘I know he is dead’,” he told the inquiry.
Mr Robertson said the pair had been working at a very remote spot, more than 15 minutes from any parking place, so ambulance crews were advised to make their way to the site on foot.
”They came down with a stretcher and wired my dad up to an electric machine before pronouncing him dead at the scene,” he said.
Mr Robertson Sr’s wife, Joyce Robertson, also gave evidence at the inquiry. She said her husband was ”retired” and was working only on an occasional basis at the time.
The pair, who had been married for almost 43 years, had been due to travel to Europe for a three-month break just 10 days after the incident.
”The last time I saw my husband was at about 7am when he got up to go to work,” she said. ”Later that day my son contacted me and said: ‘Mum, a tree has fallen on dad and he is dead’.”
Health and safety inspector Harry Bottesch told the inquiry no members of the public had been put at risk by the incident. He said it was caused by Mr Robertson Sr working in the ”danger zone” after an unstable tree was left unfelled.
An affidavit produced by a forensic pathologist who carried out a post-mortem revealed Mr Robertson was killed by ”blunt force trauma caused by crushing by a falling tree.”
Sheriff Charles Macnair said it was evident Mr Robertson had been ”very experienced” but had made a mistake which he paid for with his life.
”It is not difficult to see how the accident happened,” he said. ”It was clearly very, very unfortunate and the consequences are very sad.
”An experienced man, somebody who had been doing his job for an extremely long time, made a mistake. All of us in our professions have made mistakes in the past but this mistake had particularly tragic consequences.”
The sheriff expressed his condolences to the family and said his written findings would be published at a later date.