A farm worker was crushed to death in a horror accident as he cleaned equipment, a sheriff has ruled.
Bryan Thomson, 25, was power washing a mower at Northhouse Farm near Hawick, Roxburghshire, when it collapsed onto him.
Emergency services raced to the scene but he was pronounced dead by medics in October 2019.
A fatal accident inquiry at Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard Thomson had raised the Pottinger Novacast mower to clean it for winter but a link snapped causing it to fall on to him.
Sheriff Peter Paterson ruled his death could have been avoided had the mower been held by axle supports or wooden blocks.
He added that Thomson should not have been under the mower when he was cleaning it.
In a written judgment, Sheriff Paterson said: "When the tractor and mower were examined after the accident it was found that the nearside attachment point had come loose and that this was almost certainly the cause of the mower falling on the deceased.
"The most probable cause of the nearside linkage coming out of the hook was that it had been incorrectly fitted, however there was no clear evidence to this effect and therefore to a degree there is an element of speculation in this proposition.
"Finally I would just like to reiterate the sentiments expressed by all parties about the tragic loss of such a fine young man."
Following his death, his employer J. Hepburn and Co. released a statement paying tribute to Mr Thomson.
They said: "He was an incredibly hard worker often keen to go and start a job as most were finishing.
"To many, Bryan was the face of the contracting side of the business and he was very highly thought of as a skilled operator, carrying out his work to a very high standard, with plenty of banter along the way.
"Bryan was not just an employee but, really, an integral part of a family business and was taking more responsibility for day-to-day operations."
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