A number of grieving Scots families will meet in Glasgow to discuss the ‘rising’ rates of deaths in detention.
The meeting will take place at the City Chambers from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday (October 10), and will be chaired by Glasgow Councillor Graham Campbell.
The families of Sheku Bayoh and Allan Marshall will speak along with other families impacted by death in detention.
Organisers say the public meeting will aim to raise awareness of Scotland’s high rate of deaths in detention. The event comes ahead of a vigil organised by bereaved families which is set to be held in Edinburgh on October 26 at 12pm in front of Bute House, Glasgow Live reports.
Sheku Bayoh died in police custody in Fife in May 2015, after losing consciousness while being restrained by six officers. He was taken to hospital where he later died. The public inquiry into Sheku Bayoh’s death is ongoing with hearings to resume today.
Allan Marshall, from Carluke in Lanarkshire, died at HMP Edinburgh in 2015 after a struggle with up to 17 prison officers, just days before he was due to be released. The officers involved were previously given immunity from prosecution at a fatal accident inquiry examining his death. The Scottish Prison Service is now being investigated for corporate homicide.
Organisers say the public meeting aims to raise awareness of Scotland’s high rate of deaths in detention, ahead of a vigil organised by bereaved families to be held in Edinburgh on October 26 at 12pm in front of Bute House.
The vigil is being co-organised by BLMUK and United Friends and Families – an organisation that has held a vigil for 25 years in London – and UFFC Scotland, which marks its fifth anniversary holding the vigil in Edinburgh.
Additional speakers include Kojo Kyerewa from BLMUK and Professor Sarah Armstrong, chair of criminology at the University of Glasgow.
Professor Armstrong has been studying deaths in Scottish custody in a team of researchers that includes Linda Allan, the mother of Katie Allan, who took her own life in Polmont Young Offenders Institution in 2018 at the age of 21, months after being sentenced for dangerous driving.
The pair have stated research showed deaths from suicide and drug overdoses have been rising rapidly over the past eight years. They also claimed that prison suicides increased after the SPS introduced its suicide prevention policy in 2016 while deaths after contact with police also are rising.
Allan Marshall’s aunt, Sharon MacFadyen, said: “Allan died nearly ten years ago, on remand and during a mental health episode where CCTV showed officers had stood on him, held him down and never tried CPR or gave him any other help.
“The Sheriff said Allan’s death was preventable and the officers in the FAI lied. But no officer will ever be held accountable, and we have been fighting the people meant to be working for us to get justice. We want people to know what is happening in this country, and to share Allan’s story.”
Professor Armstrong said: “Most people are not aware that Scotland has one of the highest death in custody rates, nor that an FAI does not find anyone ‘guilty’ or responsible for a death. Even where a Sheriff makes recommendations to prevent future deaths, no individual or agency is legally obliged to accept these or act on them. It is worth a public debate to consider whether the Scottish system is fit for purpose.”