Scottish Court of Session Decisions

The second defender in this action is the widow of one of the men killed in the disaster of 14 March 1992. She is sued as an individual and as guardian of their children. The other defenders are adult relatives of the deceased. So far as concerns the relevancy of the pursuers' averments on the merits of the action, the circumstances of the present case are the same as those in Burnside Kemp Fraser v Parker. Although the formulation of the defenders' pleadings in relation to the plea of forum non conveniens in this action (a John G Gray action) differs from that in Burnside Kemp Fraser v Robb, the discussion of that plea as it applies in all the actions has been dealt with in that Opinion.

Accordingly for the reasons given in that Opinion and in the Opinion in Burnside Kemp Fraser v Parker I shall repel the defenders' second plea-in-law and sustain their third plea-in-law to the extent of excluding from probation the pursuers' averments in article 4 of the condescendence from "All of the Solicitors" to "enter into the foregoing agreement". The case will be put out By Order for discussion of the matters referred to in the final paragraph of my Opinion in Burnside Kemp Fraser v Robb.