THIS is not a good time for Police Scotland. The chief constable Phil Gormley is the subject of a gross misconduct investigation, raising worrying questions about the man at the top of the organisation. Now the force’s response to a missing person inquiry is to be investigated after the man’s body was found at the family home.
The precise details of the missing person inquiry, and Police Scotland’s response to it, will emerge in due course, but what we know is that 64-year-old Arnold Mouat was last seen at Panbrae Road in Bo’ness on July 7. Police Scotland launched a search which lasted for four weeks and involved divers, mountain rescue and police dogs. However, he was then found at the family home in Panbrae Road.
Police Scotland have said that as a result of the find, the case has been referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner and the force is to be commended for acting quickly. The review must also be carried out as swiftly as possible – Police Scotland has appeared beset by problems and the last thing it needs is another prolonged investigation.
Both investigations will then have to be allowed to run their course. But what is at stake is the concept that lies at the heart of all policing in the UK: public consent based on confidence that the job will be fairly, quickly and without prejudice.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel