
Four people will face trial after an explosion which caused the death of a Scottish man in Italy.
Grant Paterson, 54, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire died last year after a gas explosion at an Airbnb in Rome.
Mr Paterson, a CalMac employee, was pulled out of the ruins but died at the Sant’Eugenio hospital nine days later having suffered severe burns.
The explosion took place on the morning of Sunday, March 23, 2025 at the former stables of Villa Pamphilj, collapsing part of the Mamma Roma BnB where the Scot had been staying.
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The manager, the owner of the building, the installer of the kitchen and an architect have all been indicted by the Rome public prosecutor's office on various charges including forgery, culpable homicide and causing a public disaster through negligence.
An investigation ordered by deputy prosecutor Giovanni Conzo and carried out by police and a technical consultancy attributed the explosion to a gas leak caused by the incorrect installation of the system in 2022.
Documents related to the compliance of the property with health and safety laws have also been examined and the architect has been accused of false certifications.
The four men deny the charges levelled against them.
The building had also been the residence of the noted Italian writer and journalist Roberto Saviano.
Mr Saviano has lived under police protection since 2006 after the publication of his book Gomorrah about the Neapolitan mafia.
Following the explosion he wrote on social media: "I hadn't lived at 43 Via Vitellia for days. What heartbreak to see a place I so loved to live reduced to rubble."