PA MediaThe families of two young people who took their own lives in Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution are to meet the Justice Secretary before she addresses Parliament on the issue.
Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, died within months of each other in 2018 at Polmont YOI, run by the Scottish Prison Service.
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.
William – also known as William Lindsay – who had made repeated attempts on his life in 2017, which were detailed in reports provided on his admission, was found dead in his cell on October 7, three days after he was remanded due to a lack space in a children’s unit.
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) was held last year at Falkirk Sheriff Court and recommendations were made by Sheriff Simon Collins on January 17.
Members of both families and their lawyer Aamer Anwar are to meet Justice Secretary Angela Constance at Holyrood on Thursday.
They will then take their seats in the public gallery as she delivers a ministerial statement to Parliament on the response of the Government and SPS to the FAI recommendations.
In a statement issued on behalf of both families on Wednesday, Mr Anwar said they welcomed the fact the Scottish Government and SPS had accepted all 25 of Sheriff Collins’ recommendations.
However he said deaths in Scotland’s prisons would continue unless something was done to address a “lack of accountability” across the SPS.
“The catastrophic failures of the SPS effectively served a death sentence not just on Katie and William but on so many others,” the statement read.
“The lack of accountability across the Scottish Prison Service has led to Scotland having one of the highest avoidable mortality rates in prison custody, that will only continue if the UK Government does not take away crown immunity from our public prisons.
“It is finally accepted that there is a need for a radical overhaul of the ‘tokenistic’ Talk to Me policy (TTM). TTM was supposed to prevent suicides, but was most cruelly summed up by a five-minute tick box case conference into William Lindsay, held within two days of his arrival, that failed to consider him a suicide risk.
PA Media“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 of taking their own lives.”
Teresa Medhurst, SPS chief executive, previously said: “We are sincerely sorry and we apologise for the deaths of Katie and William and our failings.
“We recognise that their families want action, not words, and we are determined and committed to move at pace and that the actions we are setting out will be enduring and save many lives in the future.
“SPS has a duty of care to vulnerable young people in custody, including in moments of crisis in their lives. This response today sets out how we meet those recommendations but also look at all ways in which we can go beyond them.
“Our staff work hard to build positive relationships with people in custody every day, particularly those who might be vulnerable. This set of actions will provide the tools and training to support them in their important work.”
Ms Constance previously said: “I want to express my deepest condolences to the families of Katie Allan and William Lindsay.
“The Scottish Government has fully accepted the findings that their deaths were preventable and is committed to addressing the systemic failures identified.
“All recommendations from the inquiry have been accepted, and SPS are taking forward the urgent operational changes to implement those in full.
“As part of the broader measures, I have initiated an independent review of the FAI system to look at the efficiency, effectiveness and trauma informed nature of investigations.
“Progress is being made to make legal aid free for bereaved families participating in deaths in custody FAIs.”
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