A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is to be held into the death in custody of serial killer Peter Tobin.
Tobin, who preyed on young women and was convicted of the deaths of Angelika Kluk, Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol, died in October 2022 while serving three life sentences at HMP Edinburgh.
It has emerged that the triple murderer, who had cancer, died in hospital after suffering a fall in his cell on 9 September 2022, and was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI).
The 76-year-old did not leave the hospital and died there a month later.
FAIs are automatically held following the death of a prisoner in custody. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has now lodged a First Notice to begin the court process for one to be held into Tobin’s death.
A Preliminary Hearing will be held on 27 May 2024 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Tobin was serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, and hiding her body under the floor of a Glasgow church in 2006.
The killer was also serving life terms for the murders of 15-year-old schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton, of Redding, near Falkirk, in 1991, and 18-year-old Dinah McNicol the same year.
Their bodies were found 17 years later, buried in the garden of his former home in Margate, Kent.
In September 2006, he had been working at St Patrick’s Church in Glasgow under the alias Pat McLaughlin.
READ MORE: Peter Tobin 'at death's door' in hospital as families beg for information
Tobin attacked Kluk before raping and stabbing her to death then hiding her body under church floorboards.
He was found guilty and handed a life sentence at the high court in Edinburgh, with Judge Lord Menzies calling Tobin “an evil man”.
Police suspect he may have had more victims, but could not establish direct links to unsolved murders.
In a statement released to announce the beginning of the FAI process, the Crown Office said: “Mr Tobin had been receiving palliative care prior to his death and was monitored by GeoAmey officers at all times while within ERI.
“The inquiry is a mandatory inquiry under Section 2(4)(a) of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016.
“The purpose of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) includes determining the cause of death; the circumstances in which the deaths occurred, and to establish what, if any, reasonable precautions could have been taken, and could be implemented in the future, to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.”
READ MORE: Peter Tobin & William McDowell and the myth of death-bed confessions
Unlike criminal proceedings, FAIs are inquisitorial in nature, and are used to establish facts rather than to apportion blame.
Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS, said: “The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Peter Tobin occurred while in legal custody and as such a Fatal Accident Inquiry is mandatory.
“The lodging of the First Notice enables FAI proceedings to commence under the direction of the Sheriff.”
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