Highland farmer (83) crushed to death by protective cow while he was feeding calf; Fraser Johnstone, from Culloden, passed away at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness from injuries sustained in the attack
A life-long farmer died in hospital after being trampled and crushed by a cow, a fatal accident inquiry has ruled.
The inquiry, which followed the death of 83-year-old Fraser Johnstone, has ruled the incident a "tragic accident".
He succumbed to his injuries in Raigmore Hospital in the early hours of June 7 last year, just four days after a protective cow attacked him while he was feeding its calf at Balnuran Farm, Balnuran, Culloden.
The inquiry, a mandatory process set up in the wake of all fatal accidents in the workplace, heard that Mr Johnstone lived at the farm with his wife of 51 years, Margaret. They have two sons. Mr Johnstone was a tenant and operator of the farm and had lived there his whole life - having taken over from his own father who was also a farmer.
On the day of the cow attack, Mr Johnstone had gone out to feed the animals and returned bloodied and bruised on his quad bike at around 4pm.

He told his wife he had been feeding colostrum to a calf that was not getting enough milk from its mother, when the cow suddenly pinned him against the wall, threw him to the ground and trampled him on his chest and body. He crawled from the cow shed and on to his quad bike before riding it home.
An ambulance was subsequently called and he was taken to A&E at Raigmore Hospital and then on to the intensive care unit.
A CT scan less than an hour after he arrived in hospital revealed multiple rib fractures and a mildly displaced sternal fracture. A stent was placed in his right coronary artery.
A chest x-ray the following morning found he had "a moderate cardiomegaly suggesting a degree of cardiac failure".
A further CT scan showed "left-sided anterior rib fractures on the second to sixth ribs and cardiomegaly of both sides of the heart."
By June 5 Mr Johnstone's condition had "continued to deteriorate", and he "suffered a heart attack and kidney failure".
At this point he was moved to palliative care and placed on a "do not resuscitate" instruction, with the consent of his family "and in accordance with [his] own wishes as they knew them to be".
His condition continued to deteriorate and at 3am on June 7 his family were called to attend the hospital. He passed away less than two hours later.
Issuing her ruling, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said that the cause of Mr Johnstone’s death was multiple organ failure, rhabdomyolosis, myocardial infarction, rib fractures, and crush injury.
She added that: “The cause of the accident resulting in the death was that while Mr Johnstone was feeding colostrum to a calf, he was attacked by a female cow which pinned him against a wall, threw him to the ground and trampled him on his chest and body.”
“There are no precautions which could reasonably have been taken, which might realistically have resulted in the death, or accident resulting in death, being avoided.”
She added: “[Mr Johnstone] was an experienced cattle farmer and the risks associated with cattle handling would have been well known to him.
She concluded: “I am conscious that this determination is being issued just after the anniversary of Mr Johnstone’s death which I am sure is a painful time for the family. This was a tragic accident for which I extend my condolences to Mr Johnstone’s family for their loss.”