The deadly toll of uninvestigated deaths

It is a legal requirement that any death in custody must be investigated and heard by a sheriff in a Fatal Accident Inquiry. Under the European Convention on Human Rights any investigation must be “prompt and proceed with reasonable expedition”.

However, there is no legal timescale for an FAI in Scotland. In England, suspicious, violent or deaths in custody must be notified to a coroner immediately with an inquest taking place within six months. Solicitor Eamon Keane, who is convener of the Scottish Legal Action Group, called the delays “unconscionable” and queried why it was taking so long for cases to be held. Some investigations – like the Clutha helicopter which will finally go to an FAI in April after more than five years – are more complicated and require lengthy investigation but, by contrast, prison deaths were relatively straightforward.

“There is a clear access to justice issue here. It is grossly unfair for the families involved who just want to see matters resolved”. He added: “There are systemic failings and the efficiency of the executive is dragged into question.”

The delays, he continued, also affect the quality of the evidence, making it difficult to accurately recall what happened three or four years previously. It was also unfair, where there might be suspicion over officials, that they were forced to live with it for years for an outcome.

Nineteen-year-old Dionne Kennedy died on remand in Cornton Vale Prison, Scotland’s only female prison, in October 2014. She was a self-harmer who had been receiving psychiatric care since she was 12, according to her mother Margaret Conway. She had been “in and out of prison a few times” and had previously, she said, “been on suicide watch and under 24-hour supervision”. However, in the unit she was placed in there had been no supervision and it is believed that Dionne killed herself. The FAI has still not taken place.

The Scottish Prison Service does not comment on individual prisoners.

Liam Kerr, also 19 and on remand, died in Polmont Young Offenders Institute on November 14, 2016. A year later to the day, in the same prison, 18-year-old Robert Wagstaff died. And in October last year, again at Polmont, 16-year-old remand prisoner William Brown died. None of these deaths has been before a sheriff at an FAI.

Alan Calderwood, of Thompsons Solicitors, said: “We see clients all the time who are waiting on closure, who just want it put to bed. But people are having to wait for years for resolution.” During that time, families are left in limbo and unable to move on from the tragic loss of their loved ones. Such delays are unacceptable.”

He went on: “These inquiries should be held timeously and if conclusions are drawn then they might prevent the death in someone else’s family. The sooner they are held the better so that the ultimate price is not paid.”

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Copfs) was unable to provide a comprehensive total of the number of outstanding FAIs, but is compiling the information in response to a Freedom of Information inquiry. However, in 2017/18, 53 were completed, up from the previous year of 41.

A Crown Office spokesman said, “The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Copfs) is committed to the prompt investigation of deaths, but accepts that in some cases the time taken to complete a thorough investigation has been too long.

“Copfs has recently increased the resource available to the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU), with a view to reducing the time required to complete complex death investigations and improving the provision of information to families and next of kin.

“In addition, Copfs has revised the way the progress of all death investigations is monitored to ensure that they are completed as efficiently as possible.

“These measures represent a commitment to achieving a significant improvement in the service delivered by the Procurator Fiscal in this important area of work.”