A widow wept as she told jurors of the moment she learned her “heroic” RAF veteran husband had been killed when his bike collided with a bin lorry.
Katrina Ronald, 55, cried as she recalled the moment she discovered her partner William had lost his life on a Kinross-shire road on May 25 2018.
The Court of Session heard on Wednesday about the horrific accident which claimed the life of Mr Ronald, 46, on the Greenknowes to Watergate Farm road, near Cleish.
Mr Ronald was trapped under the vehicle as medical staff tried in vain to save his life.
Arrived at accident site
Mrs Ronald told the court her partner had told her he was going out for a bike ride and would not be long as he had work later.
She said she went out and when he had failed to return home by the time she got back, she thought he had suffered a puncture so went to look for him.
Mrs Ronald said she saw an ambulance parked and asked the staff whether they were dealing with an injured cyclist.
The staff told her their colleagues were dealing with a cyclist close by.
She said: “When I got there, the air ambulance had just left.
“I said ‘if it’s him, he will be on it’.”
When she asked emergency staff at the scene whether they were treating a William Ronald, she said a police officer told her he was dead.
She said: “I started to argue with him – I said ‘no he cannot die’.
“I wanted to see him but he said you can’t see him.
“He told me I couldn’t see him. I saw the bin lorry up the road.”
She said police had told her the bin lorry was travelling at about 20mph at the time.
Civil trial
Mrs Ronald, of Kelty, was giving evidence on the second day of proceedings at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
She and other members of Mr Ronald’s family are suing Perth and Kinross Council, the local authority responsible for the bin lorry.
Mrs Ronald believes the council is liable for the death of Mr Ronald, who once worked as a mechanic on RAF Eurofighters.
The council is contesting the action, which is being heard by a civil jury.
‘My life was happy’
Mrs Ronald told her lawyer Robert Milligan KC she met her future husband in 2007 in a bar in Annan and they married in 2009.
She said: “It was a whirlwind romance.
“I was swept off my feet. He came into my life and he made me feel loved.
“He made me feel special. He made me feel complete. My life was happy.”
They had a daughter and she said he was “completely smitten” with her.
She said: “It was great fun.
“He was always the one telling cheesy jokes and he would tell dad jokes. We all used to laugh at him.”
Mrs Ronald said her husband had been in “heroic” situations when he was in the RAF but was very “modest” speaking about his service.
Jurors were told he served in Afghanistan and had got a medal after serving there.
Mrs Ronald said he was “crazy mental” about safety.
Had to tell daughter of tragedy
She said she could not believe he died and she had to tell her daughter, then seven.
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.
“I told her ‘daddy’s dead – he’s not coming back’.”
She said she struggled with grief following the death of Mr Ronald.
“I thought they still had the wrong man, that he’s going to come back.
“He’s going to come back and put his keys in the back door.”
Her daughter, now 12, is still badly affected, she said.
Questions for jury
Jurors deliberating in the case are being asked to consider two questions:
- whether “the accident” was “caused to any extent” by the “fault” of the Perth and Kinross Council employee who drove the bin lorry and the local authority is “liable for the loss, injury and damage to the pursuers”;
- whether the accident was “caused partly by the fault of the late William Ronald” and partly “the fault” of the defender’s employee and if so what “proportion of the blame is attributable to each”.
The trial, before judge Lord Sandison, continues.
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