Inquiry Finds Systemic Failures in Scottish Prison Suicides

A report into the deaths of two young inmates at Polmont Young Offenders Institution highlights preventable failures and calls for legal reforms.

Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, took their own lives in 2018 while incarcerated at Polmont Young Offenders Institution, with an inquiry finding their deaths preventable.
Sheriff Simon Collins' 419-page report identified a 'catalogue of individual and systemic failures' by prison and healthcare staff, including lapses in suicide prevention protocols.
The inquiry criticized the ineffective implementation of the 'Talk To Me' suicide prevention strategy and inadequate risk assessments for vulnerable inmates.
Families of the deceased, supported by their solicitor, are calling for the removal of Crown immunity to enable the prosecution of prisons for negligence.
The Scottish Prison Service and Forth Valley Health Board have apologized and pledged to consider the report's 25 recommendations, while Scotland's Justice Secretary acknowledged the state's failure to protect the young inmates.