Family of man who killed himself after refused anonymity in abuse inquiry slam death probe
The family of a man who took his own life after being refused anonymity by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) have hit out over a probe into his death.
Kevin Sutherland gave evidence to the inquiry in 2022, and revealed he had suffered repeated sexual and physical abuse in care.
He signed an anonymity waiver for the inquiry to use his real name but later regretted it when he realised his statement would be online forever.
Despite repeated pleas for it to be removed, inquiry chair Lady Smith refused.
Shortly before Christmas last year, Kevin, who was 34, posted on social media from the Forth Bridges area that he was about to die, blaming the inquiry. His body has never been recovered.
Kevin's sister, Melanie Watson, said his family remained angry about his treatment and had lost faith in the independence of the review set up to probe his death.
They blame Lady Smith for refusing his plea for anonymity and say she should have no role in the probe into Kevin's death. And they say they have had no contact to explain any progress.
Melanie said: 'It's seven months since we lost Kevin, and five since Jason Beer KC was put in charge of this supposedly independent review into the circumstances that ended with his death but, short of a letter introducing himself, we've heard nothing.
'We assumed a review would start with the people who knew him best and they might want to meet us. If they are doing any work at all on this, who are they speaking to? They are not speaking to us.'
She said the family were further distressed by the final paragraph in the terms of reference for Beer's review.
She said: 'It's supposed to be independent of the inquiry, so why does the chair expect to see the report before it is finalised? How is that independent?'
Melanie added: 'The inquiry knew Kevin was damaged, very vulnerable and unstable.
'We cannot understand why they rejected his plea. The fact he went back to them three times must have underlined how important it was to him.
'By the end he was pleading with them. Why would you refuse someone so desperate?'
Melanie acknowledges Kevin's body might never be found, but they will continue to fight for some form of justice.
After his death, Lady Smith faced calls to stand down from experts on abuse and trauma who had helped the Scottish Government develop a trauma-informed approach in previous inquiries into child sexual abuse.
Anne Macdonald and Sarah Nelson, who have since died, had extensive experience of working with adult survivors, and were among those to denounce the inquiry's 'disgraceful' decision.
Beer has also been instructed in Scotland's other long-running inquiry into the death in police custody of Sheku Bayoh in Kirkcaldy 10 years ago.
He said: 'One of my first actions was to make contact with Mr Sutherland's family to explain how I was going to conduct the independent review and invite them to send me evidence or information they felt relevant.'
He added Melanie replied on February 26. He said: 'Ms Watson's reply set out further personal and sensitive information about Mr Sutherland. I did not receive any further replies to my requests for information.'
Asked whether Lady Smith's expectation to see a draft of the report could be seen as compromising his independence, he said: 'I do not think it is appropriate to comment on the mechanics of the independent review whilst it is being conducted.'
Giles Moffat, chair of the group of survivors from Edinburgh Academy which has featured prominently in the inquiry, said: 'It's not fair for the legal team to put the onus on the family of the victim.
'The legal team is being paid to investigate. Clearly, the family expected closure and more personal contact.
'In my own case, I got in touch with them unprompted and provided information and explained I had spoken at length to Kevin about five times. I fully expected they would be in touch but five months on, nothing.
'Where is the urgency to explain to a family why this young man died?'
He was not surprised Lady Smith and the inquiry wanted first sight of the KC's findings. He said: 'To describe it as a draft suggests they reserve the right to change things, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence.'
The SCAI said it had commissioned the review to consider all aspects of its interactions with Mr Sutherland, adding: 'It would be inappropriate to comment.'
The SCAI has been running for over a decade and had cost the taxpayer £95.3million by March 31 this year.
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