Dornie woman seeking answers over how partner died in Mowi fish farm death in Ross-shire ramps up campaign for fatal accident inquiry
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BY her own admission, Catriona Lockhart is a "very determined" woman on a mission to find out exactly how her partner died.
It is now more than three years since Clive Hendry drowned after being crushed between two boats as he tried to move from a moving work boat to a salmon feed barge near Kyle of Lochalsh.
This month, his employer, Mowi – formerly known as Marine Harvest – was fined £860,000 at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting health and safety failings which could have prevented the 58-year-old's death.
But for Ms Lockhart, of Dornie, the campaign for justice continues along with the search for answers as to what happened that fateful day in February 2020.
"I don't have Clive's good salary to keep me going. I don't have family and it has been a real struggle but I am one to keep going. I have had to learn to tow a trailer and to drive a quad. I have had to learn to drive a horse box and how to strim. I have learned how to harrow and how to do fencing. There were tons of things he did on the croft." - Catriona Lockhart
She is calling for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into his death and is also pursuing a civil case.
SEE ALSO: Charity backs call for an FAI into Ross-shire fish farm death
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Despite the grief of her losing her partner of 28 years and the practical impact which has left her running a croft on her own plus working as a head chef, she is relentless in her quest. "I am determined to get an FAI," said Ms Lockhart (56). "I was horrified by what I heard in court. All the way through this journey I am one of those people who had to know what happened to Clive.
"Off my own back, I wrote to the Crown Office. I spoke to two pathologists. I got the report of the post mortem sent to me.
"I was not taking rubbish from anybody."
The court heard that Mr Hendry, an assistant manager, died after stepping through an open gate on the boat to a ladder on the barge in a practice known as a touch and go transfer on Loch Alsh. He had managed to reach the ladder on the floating salmon feed structure, Sea Cap, from the moving boat called Beinn na Cailleach but he was severely injured when he was struck by the boat.
A technician on Sea Cap grabbed Mr Hendry's lifejacket to try and stop him from falling into the loch but Mr Hendry slipped out of the jacket and into the water. He was submerged for about 20 seconds before being rescued but despite the efforts of colleagues, emergency services and medical staff, he could not be resuscitated.
Ms Lockhart feels there are discrepancies in the accounts of what happened and wants answers: "I want to get to the bottom of this. I am a very determined person. I think they thought I was going to shut up and roll over.
"I am on a mission. This fight keeps me going."
She insists: "You should not have to fight for an FAI."
At the time of his death, she was on the croft four miles away from the house
"Everyone knew Clive had died and no one could find me," she said. "What is horrific is knowing he must have died in so much fear. I don't know how he died. I don't know what his last thoughts were. It would have been so horrible."
As well as the dealing with the emotional impact, his death has inevitably had a practical consequences especially when it comes to running the croft and she has continued working as a chef as she has animals to keep.
"I don't have Clive's good salary to keep me going," she explained. "I don't have family and it has been a real struggle but I am one to keep going. I have had to learn to tow a trailer and to drive a quad. I have had to learn to drive a horse box and how to strim. I have learned how to harrow and how to do fencing. There were tons of things he did on the croft.
"I really do miss him because he was so hands on. We spent a lot of time together. We were not 'townies'. We did stuff together. It has been a real learning curve."
His death also meant their shared dreams were shattered.
In the midst of dealing with her grief, she has campaigned for health and safety improvements in a bid to prevent it happening again.
Last year, she addressed a gathering in Inverness to mark International Workers' Memorial Day.
Pledging to "fight like hell" to protect the living, she called for marine laws to be tightened and for big companies to put people's lives before profits.
Her determination was highlighted by Scottish Hazards on the day of the court case.
In a post on social media, it stated: "The strength of Catriona, and every family impacted by the needless loss of loved ones as a result of health and safety failures, continues to provide inspiration to us to keep doing what we do, fighting for safer, healthier workplaces and justice for families who pay the ultimate price of poor health and safety management, the death of a loved one."
