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The Independent
01-04-2025
- The Independent
Families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay to meet prison service chiefs
The families of two young people who died in Polmont Young Offenders Institution are set to meet with senior prison service officials. Katie Allan, 21, and William Lindsay, 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 Brown – 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. Both the Scottish Government and SPS have already accepted in full the findings and recommendations of the inquiry. Members of both families along with their lawyer Aamer Anwar are due to meet both the SPS chief executive and deputy chief executive in Glasgow on Wednesday to discuss the matter. In a statement released ahead of the meeting, the families said they welcomed the fact the SPS had accepted all of Sheriff Collins' recommendations. However, they warned that deaths in custody in Scotland would continue unless the service was made more accountable. 'The catastrophic failures of the Scottish Prison Service effectively served a death sentence not just on Katie and William but on so many others,' the statement read. 'The lack of accountability across the SPS has led to Scotland having one of the highest avoidable mortality rates in prison custody, that will only continue if the UK Government does not take away crown immunity from our public prisons.' The statement also called for an overhaul of SPS' Talk to Me (TTM) policy, which is designed to prevent suicides. 'It is finally accepted that there is a need for a radical overhaul of the 'tokenistic' TTM policy', the statement read. 'TTM was supposed to prevent suicides, but was most cruelly summed up by a five-minute tick box case conference into William Lindsay, held within two days of his arrival that failed to consider him a suicide risk. 'There was nothing inevitable about William and Katie taking their own lives, it was clear to anybody that cared to look, that they were vulnerable and at risk of taking their own lives.' The meeting comes just days after the families met with Justice Secretary Angela Constance at Holyrood, ahead of her statement to the Scottish Parliament about the Government's response to the FAI report. Addressing Parliament on Thursday afternoon, Ms Constance offered her condolences to the families and pledged 'lasting change' in response to the deaths. 'It is through ongoing and decisive action that we will create the lasting change they rightly demand and deserve,' she said. She added that she had visited Polmont the previous week and substantial progress had already been made in improving safety at the facility. 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.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay to meet prison service chiefs
The families of two young people who died in Polmont Young Offenders Institution are set to meet with senior prison service officials. Katie Allan, 21, and William Lindsay, 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 Brown – 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. Both the Scottish Government and SPS have already accepted in full the findings and recommendations of the inquiry. Members of both families along with their lawyer Aamer Anwar are due to meet both the SPS chief executive and deputy chief executive in Glasgow on Wednesday to discuss the matter. In a statement released ahead of the meeting, the families said they welcomed the fact the SPS had accepted all of Sheriff Collins' recommendations. However, they warned that deaths in custody in Scotland would continue unless the service was made more accountable. 'The catastrophic failures of the Scottish Prison Service effectively served a death sentence not just on Katie and William but on so many others,' the statement read. 'The lack of accountability across the SPS has led to Scotland having one of the highest avoidable mortality rates in prison custody, that will only continue if the UK Government does not take away crown immunity from our public prisons.' The statement also called for an overhaul of SPS' Talk to Me (TTM) policy, which is designed to prevent suicides. 'It is finally accepted that there is a need for a radical overhaul of the 'tokenistic' TTM policy', the statement read. 'TTM was supposed to prevent suicides, but was most cruelly summed up by a five-minute tick box case conference into William Lindsay, held within two days of his arrival that failed to consider him a suicide risk. 'There was nothing inevitable about William and Katie taking their own lives, it was clear to anybody that cared to look, that they were vulnerable and at risk of taking their own lives.' The meeting comes just days after the families met with Justice Secretary Angela Constance at Holyrood, ahead of her statement to the Scottish Parliament about the Government's response to the FAI report. Addressing Parliament on Thursday afternoon, Ms Constance offered her condolences to the families and pledged 'lasting change' in response to the deaths. 'It is through ongoing and decisive action that we will create the lasting change they rightly demand and deserve,' she said. She added that she had visited Polmont the previous week and substantial progress had already been made in improving safety at the facility. 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.'
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Automatic legal aid for death in custody inquiries
Family members involved in deaths in custody Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAI) are to have immediate, free access to legal aid support and Secretary Angela Constance confirmed that she is using existing ministerial powers to remove means-testing for legal aid in such 7 April, families will not have to provide information on their announced the move as she updated the Scottish Parliament on the changes being made following the deaths of Katie Allan and William Brown - also known as William Lindsay - at Polmont Young Offenders Institution. In January, a sheriff concluded that the deaths of Katie, 21, and William, 16, could have been avoided but for a "catalogue of failures".They took their own lives in separate incidents at Polmont in 2018. All of the sheriff's 25 recommendations have been accepted. The Scottish government said they would be delivered "at pace" and that progress would be closely said providing free, non-means tested legal aid would need primary legislation but given the time that would take, she was using her powers to grant it from 7 family support services will also be outlined the measures being implemented, which include: A dedicated operational taskforce, chaired by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) chief executive and involving NHS partners, to ensure all of the recommendations are actionedHis Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland will provide an initial report by the summer on how the implementation of Sheriff Collins' FAI recommendations will be independently reviewedThe Scottish Prison Service is overhauling its Suicide Prevention Strategy "Talk to Me" across the prison estate. The strategy will be published at the end of this year, with a full training package to be rolled out in 2026An independent review of the FAI system has been commissioned to focus on improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and trauma-informed nature of investigations into deaths in prison custodyConstance said: "I was grateful to have had the opportunity to again meet with the families of William Lindsay and Katie Allan today and extend my deepest condolences to them, as I do to all those affected by a death in custody."It is through ongoing and decisive action that we will create the lasting change they rightly demand and deserve. We have made substantial progress since my January statement to parliament."She added: "We will continue to drive forward change and strengthen accountability. This is about changing the system and the culture that underpins it."The Scottish Conservatives' justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: "The inquiry's findings in January exposed a broken system."The deaths of Katie Allan and William Lindsay were not only tragic but also preventable and demonstrate the desperate need for action, without delay, to prevent further tragedies."Given the crisis facing the legal aid system, it is vital ministers ensure that they deliver the necessary investment to improve it so that families can access the support they need and receive the justice they deserve." What happened to William and Katie? Sheriff Collins found that William's death resulted from a catalogue of individual and collective failures by SPS and healthcare staff at said "almost all of those who interacted with him were at fault to some extent."He said a reasonable precaution would have been to have kept William – who had a history of attempting suicide – on was removed from observations the morning after he arrived at a case conference. The sheriff also found that the cell he was accommodated in could have been made safe for had been arrested after walking into Saracen Street police station in Glasgow while carrying a was remanded in custody after being deemed a "potential risk to public safety" three days before his death because there was no space in a children's secure Katie's case, the sheriff found that there were multiple failures by prison and healthcare staff to properly identify, record and share information relevant to her he said that even with the benefit of hindsight, her death had been spontaneous and Collins found that if the Glasgow University student's cell had been made safe - which could have been done without significant cost - her death would not have was a safety issue with the cell that had long been known to the was serving a 16-month sentence for dangerous and drink driving following a hit-and-run.
The Independent
13-03-2025
- The Independent
Suicide prevention strategy launched in wake of Polmont YOI deaths
The Scottish Prison Service has apologised to the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay, who took their own lives in Polmont Young Offenders' Institute, and committed to preventing further suicides. Katie Allan, 21, and William Lindsay, 16, died within months of each other in 2018 at Polmont YOI, 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. Mr Brown, who had made repeated attempts on his life in 2017 – 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 space in a children's unit. A fatal accident inquiry was held last year at Falkirk Sheriff Court and recommendations were made by Sheriff Simon Collins on January 17. SPS issued a statement saying it was committed to 'enhanced support to the most vulnerable young people at one of the most challenging times of their lives' and launching an anti-bullying strategy, promising a 'robust suicide prevention scheme'. It said all bunk beds had been removed from cells used by prisoners aged 18 to 21, and it is overhauling the Talk To Me suicide prevention scheme so prisoners are subject to it 'for a minimum of 72 hours after admission and not removed until after a case conference', with a review due to finish this year, and a new policy in 2026. SPS said it would 'institute a policy of regular ongoing cell audit' using a toolkit to risk assess for suicides, and any fixtures would be 'actioned as a priority to remove or reduce risks as soon as practicable'. It committed to trying 'suicide prevention technology in Polmont', with a report due by January 2026, and a review of items prisoners are permitted to purchase and receive due at the end of 2025. Rip-resistant bedding was recommended with SPS pledging to 'consider how best to balance safety with the needs and wellbeing' of prisoners. Scottish ministers are launching a working group 'determining the best way to ensure the timely and secure transfer of information from court to SPS'. SPS also said it was 'committed to developing and implementing a secure electronic portal whereby social work, medical staff and third sector organisations can provide information relevant to a prisoner's suicide risk'. However in a statement from solicitor Aamer Anwar on behalf of Ms Allan's parents Linda and Stuart Allan and brother Scott Allan, and Mr Lindsay's brother John Reilly, the apology was branded 'too little too late'. It blamed 'SPS, former prison governors, senior management at Polmont and the Forth Valley Heath Board' and said they 'ignored cries for help', claiming 'some should be facing criminal prosecution'. Mr Anwar said: 'The Government has accepted in full all the recommendations. The families are grateful to the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Justice Angela Constance for acting with such speed and compassion.' He added: 'The lack of accountability across SPS has led to Scotland having one of the highest avoidable mortality rates in custody, that will only continue if the UK Government does not take away crown immunity from our public prisons. 'Nearly seven years on, steps must be taken now to implement the transfer of all information to the prison estate, immediately on admission. 'The developing of a secure electronic portal sometime in 2026 is too little and could be dangerously late. 'Of course, all information held must be shared by all agencies to ensure a duty of care for each young person incarcerated.' Mr Anwar said: 'The question for the families is, if the SPS now accept that suicide was not inevitable and they are culpable, will they finally instruct a suicidologist as requested by Linda Allan.' Teresa Medhurst, SPS chief executive, 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.' Justice Secretary Angela Constance 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.'
