The head of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has said said that the service should not benefit from Crown immunity, which should be abolished to allow it to face prosecution.
The families of Katie Allan, 21, and William Lindsay, 16, who took their own lives within months of each other at Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution in 2018, met with the chief executive and deputy chief executive of the SPS on Wednesday, April 2.
Aamer Anwar, the lawyer representing both families, said that during the “robust and painful meeting” chief executive Teresa Medhurst had accepted that state immunity for the prison service should end.
He recalled that a former Police Scotland chief constable had once raised this issue with him, asking why the police can be prosecuted but that the prison service, which can “lock people up for 24 hours, seven days a week,” cannot.
Katie’s mum, Linda Allan, also said the meeting was the first time the families had not felt “demonised” by the prison service in the last seven years, and that the meeting was a “complete reversal” of what they had experienced so far.
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 Brown – 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 of space in a children’s unit.
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) was held last year at Falkirk Sheriff Court into their deaths and 25 recommendations were made by sheriff Simon Collins.
Both the Scottish Government and SPS have already accepted in full the findings and recommendations of the inquiry. Mr Anwar said it was “important” that Ms Medhurst had agreed Crown immunity for the prison service should be “abolished”.
He said: “When you have a situation where the SPS agrees with the lifting of Crown immunity, when the Scottish Government and every opposition party in the Scottish Parliament agrees with the lifting of Crown immunity, the question really is now for the UK Government to deliver on that.
“The next stage for the families, and for a number of other families we act for, is for a meeting with (Prime Minister Sir) Keir Starmer and the Justice Minister, because they carry the power to do this.
“There is clearly unity right across Scotland, from all the institutions as well as the family, to remove Crown immunity. It’s unacceptable.”
He added that the SPS had “gaslighted” families for years but, having fully accepted the findings and recommendations of the FAI, it had “no choice” but to change.
Linda Allan described the meeting as the “beginning of a dialogue” with the SPS. She thanked Ms Medhurst and deputy chief executive Linda Pollock for what she said was a “very positive, honest and robust response today, and their honesty and their obvious willingness to see change”.
She added: “For the first time we didn’t feel demonised by the prison service, but we felt listened to, and we found that very restorative.”
Speaking after the meeting, Ms Medhurst said: “This was just an opportunity to meet personally with the families, to offer our apologies for their loss, the tragic loss of Katie and William, and to apologise for the failures of the past.
“And to ensure that they understand we are committed and determined to not only action the recommendations that we have accepted in full, but to ensure that there is systemic change across the organisation, which will be impactful and lasting.”
She later added in a statement that she was grateful to the families for agreeing to the meeting and said the change needed would be delivered at pace and also be transparent. She said: “We have listened carefully and recognise (the families) want immediate action and accountability.”
The meeting comes just days after the families met with Justice Secretary Angela Constance at Holyrood, ahead of a statement to Parliament in which she pledged “lasting change”.
The Scottish and UK Governments have been approached for comment.