We are fed up of apologies, say family of young woman who died in Polmont YOI
The parents of a young woman who took her own life in Polmont Young Offenders Institution have said they are 'fed up' of apologies, ahead of a meeting at Holyrood with Justice Secretary Angela Constance.
Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, died within months of each other in 2018 at Polmont, which is run by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).
Ms Allan, a student at Glasgow University, was found dead on June 4 while serving a 16-month sentence for drink-driving and causing serious injury.
William – also known as William Lindsay – who had made repeated attempts on his life in 2017 which were detailed in reports provided on his admission, was found dead in his cell on October 7, three days after he was remanded due to a lack of space in a children's unit.
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) was held last year at Falkirk Sheriff Court into their deaths and 25 recommendations were made by Sheriff Simon Collins.
Members of both families and their lawyer Aamer Anwar are meeting Ms Constance on Thursday, having last met her following publication of the FAI findings in January.
They will then take their seats in the public gallery as she delivers a ministerial statement to Parliament on the response of the Government and SPS to the sheriff's recommendations.
Speaking at a short press conference ahead of the meeting, Ms Allan's parents Linda and Stuart said 'now is the time' for action to make Scottish prisons safer.
Mr Allan said: 'In January we got some hope at the end of the FAI, and obviously the statements that Angela Constance made in Parliament.
'We're fed up with sorrys and apologies etc for the deaths of Katie and William.
'Now is the time we actually want to see some action. So we're interested today to see what progress has been made and to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to make sure this doesn't happen.'
Mrs Allan called in particular for an 'overhaul' of the SPS Talk to Me (TTM) suicide prevention programme, saying it had made suicide rates rise instead of fall.
'The TTM strategy has actually increased suicides across the Scottish prison estate rather than reduced them,' she said. 'It's not worth the paper it's written on and requires an overhaul by experts.
'It's beyond my understanding that those experts lie within the SPS. They do not. They lie outwith the SPS, and why the health service isn't leading on this or academics involved, I don't understand.'
Mr Anwar echoed this, calling for a 'national oversight mechanism' to implement meaningful change to TTM, and questioning what he said was a delay by the SPS to take action on making cells safer.
He also repeated his earlier calls for the SPS to be made more accountable for the deaths through a lifting of Crown immunity that means the service cannot be prosecuted.
'The SPS is guilty of gaslighting these families, of lying to them, of covering up,' the lawyer said.
'They are guilty of corporate homicide, they are guilty of a breach of the health and safety regulation, and we'll be interested to hear today from the minister how far they've got with the UK Government with regards to lifting of Crown immunity.'
Teresa Medhurst, SPS chief executive, previously said: 'We are sincerely sorry and we apologise for the deaths of Katie and William and our failings.
'We recognise that their families want action, not words, and we are determined and committed to move at pace and that the actions we are setting out will be enduring and save many lives in the future.
'SPS has a duty of care to vulnerable young people in custody, including in moments of crisis in their lives. This response today sets out how we meet those recommendations, but also look at all ways in which we can go beyond them.
'Our staff work hard to build positive relationships with people in custody every day, particularly those who might be vulnerable. This set of actions will provide the tools and training to support them in their important work.'
Ms Constance previously said: 'I want to express my deepest condolences to the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay.
'The Scottish Government has fully accepted the findings that their deaths were preventable and is committed to addressing the systemic failures identified.
'All recommendations from the inquiry have been accepted, and SPS are taking forward the urgent operational changes to implement those in full.
'As part of the broader measures, I have initiated an independent review of the FAI system to look at the efficiency, effectiveness and trauma informed nature of investigations.
'Progress is being made to make legal aid free for bereaved families participating in deaths in custody FAIs.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Drug policy reform campaigner Peter Krykant dies aged 48
Mr Fitzpatrick later lost his job after Scotland's drugs deaths soared to 1,264 in 2019. Krykant, who battled his own addiction issues, said his mobile injection room saved lives and argued for similar facilities to be set up to cut Scotland's soaring drug deaths. Peter Krykant in the converted ambulance, which allowed drug users a safe space to inject (Image: Mark F Gibson) It has been reported that he was found dead at home in Falkirk . He faced police charges over the ambulance, but these were later dropped. He said: "We are all deeply saddened to hear of Peter's passing. 'Everyone from the Scottish Greens is thinking of his family and friends at this extremely difficult time. "Peter was a tireless campaigner for a fairer, more compassionate approach to handling drug misuse and addiction, and his campaigning has left such an important legacy in the UK's first safe consumption room in Glasgow. "His advocacy for drug reform, and of course, his yellow van have no doubt saved countless lives in Scotland." Police Scotland have said that no suspicious circumstances surround the death at Krykant's home in Larbert, Falkirk, on Monday this week. Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who had helped man the mobile service, which was regarded as illegal at the time, said 48-year-old Krykant's efforts had helped make significant changes to Scotland's drugs policy. READ MORE: Mr Sweeney told The Daily Record: 'I'm shocked and saddened to hear of Peter's death. We can't underestimate the contribution he made to the drugs debate in Scotland, which came amid many years of increasing overdose deaths. 'He undoubtedly played a major part in changing policy in a political a system that was very much set in its ways and resistant to the kind of radical change that Peter advocated.' Earlier this year, The Thistle safe drugs consumption facility opened in Glasgow after years of political wrangling between the Scottish and UK governments, allowing those who inject drugs like heroin and cocaine a safe place to do so, with medical professionals on hand should they be needed. The centre has seen 17 overdoses since it opened, according to service manager Lynn Macdonald in March, some of which she believes would have resulted in death had staff not stepped in.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
No10 plunged into lockdown moments after Reeves' Spending Review as cops probe ‘abandoned vehicle' near Downing Street
THE Prime Minister's Office was plunged into lockdown this afternoon. Downing Street staff were huddled in secure rooms at No10 as police investigated an "abandoned vehicle". 2 They were forced to down tools working on the Spending Review while police resolved the incident. City of Westminster Police closed off Parliament Street with a cordon starting at the entrance to Westminster Underground Station. Four police vans also blocked the route to the official residence of Sir Keir Starmer. A spokesperson for City of Westminster Police said: "A cordon is in place at the southern end of Whitehall as a precautionary measure while officers investigate an abandoned vehicle in the vicinity of Downing Street. "It is not linked to a separate road traffic collision involving a coach and a pedestrian in nearby Abingdon Street." It came after a serious collision involving a pedestrian and a bus on nearby Abingdon Street. Emergency services were already on the scene responding to reports of a person trapped beneath a bus. The incident occurred near Abingdon Street Gardens, just steps from key government buildings and Westminster Abbey. London Air Ambulance were also called to the incident at lunchtime.
Scotsman
7 hours ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh MP calls for urgent action on prostitution including ban on 'pimping' websites
Edinburgh North & Leith Labour MP Tracy Gilbert has called for urgent action to tackle demand for prostitution and sex trafficking, including a ban on 'pimping' websites. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In a debate at Westminster, Ms Gilbert said she wanted to turn the spotlight on men who used prostitutes but preferred to remain invisible. She said: "Sex buyers rely on being unseen while they ruin lives, leaving us as a society and the individual women to pick up the pieces of the carnage they cause. Edinburgh North & Leith Labour MP Tracy Gilbert has called for urgent action to tackle demand for prostitution | supplied Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "The demand from men who pay for sex fuels a brutal prostitution and sex trafficking trade. It funds predatory websites that make millions of pounds advertising women for sexual exploitation every day and causes untold trauma to some of society's most vulnerable women while undermining equality for all women." She said research had found 3.6 per cent of men in the UK admitted to having paid for sex in the previous five years. Those most likely to have paid for sex were single, aged between 25 and 34 and in managerial or professional occupations. And she said In Edinburgh over the weekend of June 7-8, some 142 women were being advertised for prostitution on one pimping website alone. Ms Gilbert said demand for prostitution was "not inevitable" and the law could had a critical role in deterring it. One UK study which asked over 1,200 sex buyers whether they would change their behaviour if a law was introduced that made paying for sex a crime found over half said that they would definitely, probably or possibly change their behaviour. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'While sex buyers are driven by male sexual entitlement, ultimately, they do it because they can. The law is not just failing to stop these men; it is making it easy. Not only is paying for sex legal in England, Wales and Scotland, so are the pimping websites advertising thousands of women each day for sex buyers to choose from. 'These websites function as massive online brothels. They are the go-to place for traffickers to advertise their victims. Pimping websites are making it as easy to order a room and to sexually exploit as it is to order a takeaway.' Ms Gilbert welcomed the Bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Edinburgh Eastern Alba MSP Ash Regan, which seeks to make the purchase of sex a criminal offence. And she backed amendments tabled for the Crime and Policing Bill at Westminster to outlaw pimping and paying for sex, and remove sanctions for soliciting. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Replying to the debate, junior Home Office minster Jess Phillips praised Ms Gilbert's passion and said she too had a long-standing interest in the issues raised. 'For too long, women and vulnerable people have been trapped in sexual exploitation under the guise of prostitution. The daily abuse that they suffer is truly horrific,' But she said legislation alone did nothing. 'We have to look at legislative models and at what will actually work. I am only interested in actual outcomes.' She added: 'As the minister, I will use every lever available to me to clamp down on sexual exploitation. The Government's position will be informed by the views of victims and survivors, the voluntary and community sector, which works directly with victims and survivors, the police and others.'
