Hawick fatal fire victim named as former soldier John Davidson, 68

A joint police and fire brigade investigation was launched after his body was discovered at his home in the Corn Mill, in Mill Path, last Thursday morning following a 999 call to emergency services.

Fire crews from Hawick and Jedburgh were called to the address at 9.56am and managed to bring the fire under control by lunchtime, but Mr Davidson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 68-year-old was wheelchair-bound after having to have a leg amputated.

His death was initially described as unexplained, but a Police Scotland spokeswoman has now confirmed it is not being treated as suspicious, adding: “The incident happened around 10am on Thursday, January 4. Emergency services attended. However, the body of a man was discovered, and he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. A report will sent to the procurator fiscal.”

The tragedy coming so soon after the start of the new year is bound to have an impact on townsfolk, believes Hawick and Denholm councillor Stuart Marshall, and he passed on his sympathies to Mr Davidson’s loved ones.

He said: “Last week’s tragic fire at Mill Path has really saddened many people in the town, and whilst incidents like these are thankfully rare in our town, none the less the impact of such a tragedy can certainly be felt in close-knit communities such as ours, and my thoughts are with Mr Davidson, as well as his family and friends.”

Mr Davidson, born in Darjeeling in West Bengal, India, was epileptic and also suffered a stroke in 1997.

The three-storey Corn Mill, built around 1805, was converted into flats in 2001.

The tragedy was one of two house fire deaths in the south of Scotland in the space of a day, the body of a 51-year-old man having been found in a house in Dumfries last Wednesday afternoon.