JUSTICE Secretary Angela Constance gave an emotional apology to the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay as she told MSPs the state accepted there were “systemic failures” which resulted in their deaths in prison.
Allan took her own life aged 21 in her prison cell at Polmont Young Offenders Institution in 2018. Lindsay killed himself at the same institution at the age of 16 the same year.
In a statement responding to a report which identified a “catalogue of failures” in the systems meant to care for them, Constance, close to tears in Holyrood, said: “I want to express my deepest condolences to the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay. I am deeply sorry for their deaths.”
She said their suicides were tragic “but also preventable”, adding: “The deaths of these two young people should not have happened while they were in the care of the state.”
She was responding to the findings of a Fatal Accident Inquiry by Sheriff Simon Collins KC published last week, which made 35 recommendations to prevent prison suicides, including practical steps to make cells safer.
The Justice Secretary said the Scottish Government accepted all the recommendations and set out to MSPs six “specific direct actions” she would take to reform institutions to make them safer.
These are:
- The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) will “urgently and immediately” review its policies on ligatures – things that could be used to hang or strange oneself – in cells
- Talk to Me – the SPS’s suicide prevention strategy – will be “completely revised and overhauled” while a new system will be put in place to inform prison bosses whether new inmates pose a suicide risk
- Death in prison “learning and audit reviews” will now be chaired independently
- Legal aid for bereaved families will be free and will no longer be means-tested. This will require a change to the law, which the Government said would come as soon as possible
- There will be an independent review of the Fatal Accident Inquiry system to examine its efficiency and effectiveness, which will report to the Justice Secretary before the end of the year
- The Scottish Government will press the UK Government to lift the SPS’s immunity from prosecution, which is a reserved matter
In a statement after her speech in Parliament, Constance (below) added: “I am determined to lead change across SPS, NHS and broader partners to take forward the necessary reforms; while, many changes have already taken place, further improvements are needed, at both operational and procedural level.
“I also expect to see a cultural change in the way agencies work individually and collectively together.
“There also needs to be a shift in the balance from custody to justice in the community.
“People should face the consequences of their actions when they have broken our laws, but in many cases that can be done safely and more effectively in the community not in prison.”
