Two people who took their own lives in a young offenders institution were “given a death sentence”, a solicitor acting for their families said, as he called for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to change the law to allow prisons to be prosecuted.
Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, also known as William Lindsay, died in their cells at Polmont Young Offenders Institution in 2018 within months of each other.
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 by dangerous driving.
Mr Brown, who had made repeated attempts on his life in 2017 which were detailed in reports provided on his admission to Polmont, was found dead in his cell on October 7 – three days after he was remanded due to a lack space in a children’s secure unit.
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into their deaths was held at Falkirk Sheriff Court last year, led by Sheriff Simon Collins KC.
In his determination, which was published on Friday, Sheriff Collins described a “catalogue of individual and collective failures by prison and healthcare staff” at the facility.
We do not have a death sentence in this country, but for Katie and William, that is what you served on them
He found there were reasonable precautions by which both deaths might realistically have been avoided, and that systemic failures contributed to them.
He issued 25 recommendations – which the families’ solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said he believes will be “ignored” by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) unless it becomes mandatory to implement them.
SPS has apologised for the failures identified in the report and said it will carefully consider the recommendations, while Forth Valley Health Board also apologised and said a “wide range of actions” had been taken to make improvements since 2018.
At a press conference on Friday, Mr Anwar claimed the SPS, former prison governors, the NHS Forth Valley health board, the Scottish Government, and a succession of first ministers and justice ministers were “complicit in the deaths that continue to take place”.
Mr Anwar said: “We do not have a death sentence in this country, but for Katie and William, that is what you served on them.”
He claimed that over six years, public servants “denied the truth”, “lied and conducted a whitewash” and “gaslighted the families”.
He said some of those involved “should be facing criminal prosecution”.
He also called for the Prime Minister to change the law on Crown immunity – which prevents the prosecution of prisons.
Mr Anwar said: “The Crown Office told us before the start of the FAI, there was more than sufficient evidence to prosecute SPS for the deaths of Katie and William under health and safety laws, but because SPS has Crown immunity, nothing could be done.
“It’s time this licence to kill was changed by the UK Government. Our next stage is to take this to the Prime Minister and ask him to fulfil the promise made some 20 years ago by a Labour government to remove Crown immunity from UK prisons.”
He praised the 419-page report as “the most extensive and robust findings in over half a century”.
One of the main issues raised by Sheriff Collins was the effectiveness of the Talk To Me (TTM) suicide prevention strategy.
He added the deaths could have been prevented if “reasonable precautions” had been taken around the safety of cells, including carrying out regular checks to identify potential risks.
Mr Anwar said: “It is clear on the sheriff’s findings that had SPS simply done its job, then Katie Allan and William Lindsay may have been alive today. The failures were systemic. They were catastrophic. They were incompetent.”
Katie’s mother, Linda Allan, said: “Katie was brutalised in Polmont, so much so that she lost all hope and saw only one solution – her death.”
She described what happened as a “complete systemic failure among the prison service.”
William’s brother, John Reilly, said he blamed “everyone who came into contact with William” for his sibling’s death.
Campaigners have called for a national oversight mechanism to ensure FAI recommendations do not “disappear into the ether”.
Mr Anwar said: “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.
“We do not have the death sentence in the UK, but for Katie and William that is exactly what their prison sentence was.”
An SPS spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay and we would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere condolences and apologies for the failures identified in this report.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to support people and keep them safe during the most challenging and vulnerable periods of their lives.
“We are grateful to Sheriff Collins for his recommendations, which we will now carefully consider before responding further.”
Justice Secretary Angela Constance is expected to make a statement to Parliament next week, and said the deaths “should not have happened”.
Ms Constance said: “My deepest sympathies and condolences are with the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay, who have lost a child and sibling.
“I am deeply sorry about their deaths and that their families have had to wait so long for the conclusion of this process.”
She added: “Deaths from suicide in custody are as tragic as they are preventable, and the deaths of these two young people should not have happened whilst they were in the care of the state.”
New regulations under the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 came into force on August 28 last year and mean that no under-18s will be detained in a Young Offenders Institution but instead in suitable settings such as secure care.
A spokesperson for Forth Valley Health Board said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the families of Katie Allan and William Brown and apologise for the failures relating to healthcare services highlighted in the report.
“A wide range of actions have been taken over the last six years to improve and strengthen prison health services and support. We continue to work in partnership with the Scottish Prison Service to ensure everything possible is done to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
“We have also addressed the healthcare related recommendations from the previous Expert Review on Mental Health Services for Young People at HMP YOI Polmont and will now consider the recommendations from this FAI to identify any actions or learning to further improve prison healthcare.”
The Scottish and UK governments have been asked for further comment.
