Relatives of death-in-custody victim Allan Marshall have been given fresh hope of answers following a three-hour meeting with Scotland’s most senior prosecutor.
Mr Marshall died in March 2015 after being brutally restrained by prison officers at the capital’s Saughton Prison.
The case provoked public fury after the Sunday Mail went to court to reveal shocking footage of the incident showing him being dragged naked down a corridor with a towel over his face.
His older brother Alistair and aunt Sharon MacFadyen met Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain at the Crown Office in Edinburgh on Friday.
Sharon, from Rutherglen, Glasgow, said “We are a lot more hopeful of finally getting answers to all the questions we have been asking since Allan’s death.
“The Lord Advocate really listened and said she would get back to us in the next six to eight weeks with her response.
“We have also given her a lot of new information which she was not aware of.
“For the first time, she was hearing the full story. The Lord Advocate also listened to our concerns over the way we were treated after Allan died.”
At the time of his death, Mr Marshall, 30, from Glasgow, ran his own recycling business. He was on remand and due for release. He died after spending three days in a coma at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, following his restraint at the jail.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry in 2018 ruled his death was “entirely preventable” and the same guards were accused of failing to tell the whole truth about what happened.
Mr Marshall’s family posed 19 questions about the investigation into his death to the Lord Advocate.
They wanted to know why no prison officers involved in his restraint were charged over his death and why they were given immunity from prosecution in return for giving evidence at the FAI.
The Marshalls’ solicitor Jelina Berlow-Rahman said: “We are pleased someone is finally listening to the families and their concerns.”
In December we reported how Mr Marshall’s family had been refused a public inquiry by Justice Secretary Keith Brown, who claimed all issues of concern were addressed at the 2018 FAI.
Lord Advocate Bain QC said: “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with Allan Marshall’s family.
“As a result of reviewing this case, the Crown has made significant improvements to the way it investigates deaths in custody.”
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