Doctors managed to successfully reattach the thumb of a teenage apprentice after it had been severed off by a rotating blade.
The then 18-year-old resumed his apprenticeship with another firm following the procedure.
He was employed as an apprentice joiner by 3B Construction when the incident happened during the conversion of a 19th century hunting lodge into a luxury hotel in the Highlands.
The company has been fined £40,000 at Tain Sheriff Court following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and a prosecution brought by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).
On 8 June 2021, the apprentice, who had been with the company for six months, was using a portable table saw to cut plasterboard during the project at Hope Lodge in Tongue.
He used his left hand to flick away material on the saw blade. His hand made contact with the rotating blade, cutting off his thumb. He raised the alarm with colleagues who took him to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. His thumb was found a short time later and taken to the hospital.