The Lanarkshire family of a man who died while in custody have welcomed the news a new probe into the incident is set to take place.
Our sister title the Sunday Mail has reported that prison officers given immunity from prosecution but branded “dishonest” in the Fatal Accident Inquiry ruling regarding Allan Marshall's death are now set to be re-interviewed.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have already travelled to Inverness jail to speak to an inmate who was in Saughton prison when Allan was forcibly restrained and later died in March 2015.
Shocking CCTV footage showed 30-year-old Allan being dragged naked down a corridor with a towel over his face.
The prisoner who saw the incident through his cell door in the Segregation and Reintegration Unit (SRU) previously gave evidence at the FAI.
The 43-year-old, who has asked not to be named, met two women from the Crown Office’s Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit on Tuesday for 90 minutes at HMP Inverness.
They went over his statement to police in 2015 and took a new one. He also said he would be prepared to give evidence at a future date if any charges were brought.
It is understood the officials plan to interview the 13 officers involved as well as two other prisoners housed in the SRU at the time. They also gave evidence at the 2018 FAI.
The new probe follows a meeting between the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain – Scotland’s most senior prosecutor – and Allan’s family in March, when they expressed concerns over how Allan’s death was investigated.
Allan’s aunt Sharon McFadyen, 49, from Rutherglen, said: “We asked the Lord Advocate to look into Allan’s death and this is what she is doing.
“We are now waiting to hear back on its conclusion and I am confident of a positive outcome.”
Allan was remanded to Saughton after appearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court on a breach of the peace charge due to unpaid fines. He was due to be released at the time of his death.
He had been dragged naked, feet first and face down across a prison corridor with a towel over his face and suffered multiple injuries. The dad of two died four days later in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary while in an induced coma.
He had been taken to the SRU after allegedly damaging his cell.
In a Sunday Mail interview in October 2019 the Inverness prisoner said the force used by officers was the worst he had seen and up to 13 prison officers were involved.
Allan had run his own recycling firm in Glasgow’s Castlemilk.
His family previously called for action against officers but they were given immunity from prosecution when providing evidence at the FAI.
Following the FAI in Edinburgh, Sheriff Gordon Liddle described the evidence of the officers as “mutually and consistently dishonest”.
He said testimonies given by the three prisoners were “consistent” and “straightforward” and ruled the death was “entirely preventable”.
A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The Lord Advocate has instructed further inquiries. The family will continue to be kept updated on significant developments.”
The Scottish Prison Service declined to comment.
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