PRESS RELEASE – 30 MAY 2023 – JOINT FATAL ACCICDENT INQUIRIES TO BE HELD INTO THE SUICIDES OF KATIE ALLAN & WILLIAM LINDSAY AT POLMONT YOUNG OFFENDER’S INSTITUTION

PRESS RELEASE – 30 MAY 2023

JOINT FATAL ACCICDENT INQUIRIES TO BE HELD INTO THE SUICIDES OF KATIE ALLAN & WILLIAM LINDSAY AT POLMONT YOUNG OFFENDER’S INSTITUTION

A statement by Aamer Anwar solicitor on behalf of John Reilly brother of William Lindsay and Linda & Stuart Allan, parents of Katie Allan.

The Crown Office has taken the unprecedented step of announcing joint Fatal Accident Inquiries into the suicides of Katie Allan and William Lindsay that took place in 2018 at Polmont Young Offender’s Institution.

The first Preliminary Hearing will be held on 11th July 2023 at Falkirk Sheriff Court, an evidential hearing is expected to commence on the 8th January for some 6 six weeks.

We note that the Solicitor General acknowledges the distress to the families caused by both deaths and the length of time taken for Crown Office to get it to this stage.

But for the families the passage of time has allowed a cynical Scottish Prison Service to operate behind a veil of secrecy, covering up systemic failures & preventable suicides.

Nearly 5 years have passed since Katie and William’s death, in that time there have been two Lord Advocates, two Solicitor Generals, three Justice Ministers all apologising for delays, since then William’s mother Christine has died and a prisoners are now twice as likely to die in prison in 2022 as someone was in 2008. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63780998).

SPS hides behind empty words of condolences in the comfort that no matter how a prisoner dies on their watch, they will never ever be held to account, crown immunity from prosecution effectively gives them a ‘license to kill’.
In October 2022 the families were told the Crown office had found that a breach of the Health and Safety Act at the prison “materially contributed” to both deaths, but due to the operation of Crown immunity no criminal proceedings could be raised against the Scottish Prison Service or the Scottish Ministers.

William Lindsay was only 16 when he was admitted to Polmont Young Offender’s Institute on the 4th October 2018. William was an obvious high suicide risk, yet despite a known history of several suicide attempts, being in and out of care at least 19 times since the age of 3, the absence of a space in a children’s secure unit meant he was remanded to Polmont. The desperate cries of a child went unheard, and on the 7th October 2018 William’s body was found in his cell, after he had taken his own life.

Katie Allan was a geography student at Glasgow University when she was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to drink-driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Kate had a number of days left to serve before being eligible for release but violated and crushed she could take no more and at the age of 21 she took her own life.

We do not have the death sentence in Scotland but for William and Katie that is exactly what Polmont Young Offender’s Institute meant. The lifting of Crown immunity must a priority for the Scottish Government.

Whilst an FAI cannot apportion blame, the families of William and Katie hold the Scottish Prison Service and Health Service directly responsible for their deaths and will fight to ensure that other lives can be saved.

The irony is that had Katie or William died in a private prison, a police cell or mental health hospital, it would have been possible to prosecute them. Crown Immunity is a shameful abuse of power and in advance of the FAI’s both families are asking Justice Secretary Angela Constance and the Scottish Government what they intend to do about approaching the UK Government to save lives in our prisons.

My client Linda & Stuart Alan also stated in response:-

“This Sunday will be the 5th anniversary of our daughter’s death. We will spend the day reflecting on Katie’s life and all she meant to us. Katie’s life, like many other young people, meant nothing to the Scottish Prison Service, if it had she would not be dead. For 5 years we have known we will have to relive every minute of the horror our daughter faced at her FAI. The Crown office accept that despite credible and reliable evidence for a successful criminal prosecution they cannot prosecute the SPS due to crown immunity, they accept our domestic law is not fit for purpose, how can we accept this?

We have researched and campaigned since Katie’s death, highlighting the unacceptable numbers of suicides and a completely ineffectual suicide prevention strategy, we as a bereaved family have done this, not the Crown Office. Since the introduction of their suicide prevention strategy ‘Talk to me’ there has been a 42% increase in suicides. The FAI will not prevent deaths in similar circumstances, no Death in Custody. FAI has in the past, it will certainly traumatise us, but we will take part to give a voice to our Katie.”