Family of dad scalded to death in boiling bath slam hotel management for 'ignoring warnings'

Daily Record

6 days ago

Wallace Hunter, who had dementia, was found unresponsive in the boiling water in December 2019.
The family of a dad who was scalded to death in a hotel bathroom have blasted management who ignored safety "warning signs".
Wallace Hunter, 75, a retired precision engineer, was staying at Pitlochry Hydro Hotel in Perthshire when he became trapped in a bath while his wife packed their bags on the final day of their trip in December 2019.
However, shortly afterward, a guest in the bedroom below raised the alarm after witnessing hot water " cascading ' down his walls.
His wife and a group of other guests tried to break the door down but were hampered by it being bolted from the inside.
Mr Hunter, from Eaglesham in Renfrewshire, was found unresponsive and submerged in scalding water that was so hot firefighters and police had to wear gloves to tolerate the temperature.
He died from third-degree burns to 83 per cent of his body.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) has identified a catalogue of avoidable safety failings and defects of working which could have prevented the tragedy from taking place.
It heard that in the weeks prior to the accident, hotel staff received multiple complaints about the water being too hot in a number of rooms.
In the same room Mr and Mrs Hunter were staying in, two guests raised concerns over water being discharged from the bathroom taps as being "iffy" and "too hot".
Neither of the complaints were ever signed off or completed in a logbook held by maintenance staff - meaning no further action was taken.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that the bath's thermostatic mixing valve (TMV) - which mixes cold and hot water to deliver a safe and consistent temperature - was faulty.
The FAI further heard that Mr Hunter, who suffered from dementia, would have struggled to use the excessively stiff and overly sensitive temperature control dial on the bath.
And had the bathroom door lock in his room been accessible from the outside, efforts to rescue the pensioner would have stood a much greater success.
The probe set out a list of precautions the hotel could have taken to prevent Mr Hunter's death.
They included having annual maintenance work completed on bath taps, a formal analysis of guest complaints and the fitting of bathroom door lock releases.
In a joint statement Mr Hunter's son, Keir and his daughter, Kimberley said of the FAI determination: ''The Sheriff's judgement is the most difficult thing we have ever had to read.
"It describes in full detail our dad's excruciating and drawn out final moments but also shines a light on the fact that his death could and would have been avoided had the hotel used qualified maintenance staff and had the most basic of maintenance regimes in place for its hot water supply.
"The fault which caused our fathers death had been complained about by many previous guests and was well know to the the hotel management. They ignored these warnings. We are frankly appalled that this hotel was allowed to open its doors to the public in 21st century Scotland."
Glen Millar, a partner with Thompsons Solicitors Scotland who acts for the Hunter family, said: "I have been involved in some of Scotland's highest profile fatal cases over the years but I fail to recall any where a death has resulted from such a litany of avoidable failures.
"It is clear that what happened to Mr Hunter could have happened to any one of the many elderly guests who stayed at the hotel in the years leading up to this tragedy."