Berry farmer crushed to death

Work was about to start when the accident happened

A farmer has died after being dragged into machinery and crushed in a Tayside raspberry field.

Ian Watson, 34, was co-ordinating work in the field at Finnieston on the outskirts of Forfar when he was entangled in the mechanical picking machine.

The accident happened as a team of 20 East European student pickers assembled to begin their morning's work.

The machine, which straddles the raspberry canes and shakes them to release the fruit, was being driven by another worker when Mr Watson was snagged.

Fire crews used lifting equipment to free him but he was found to be dead.

The Health and Safety Executive has begun an investigation.

Mr Watson and his wife Jacqueline have three children, a five-year-old son and two daughters aged two and one.

The Rev Allan Webster, the local parish minister, said: "Everyone is still finding it difficult to come to terms with the accident or to believe it has happened."