A FAMILY has launched a civil action against Scotland’s prison service and NHS Forth Valley after their “high-risk” suicidal son took his own life in a cell.
William Brown – also known as William Lindsay – died at Polmont Young Offenders Institution on October 7, 2018, aged 16, days after being sent there on remand.
The teenager’s mother, Christine Lindsay, believes her son was not safe in his cell and said it is her duty to “cry out for justice”. She said Scottish politicians should “hang their heads in shame” over not taking more action to tackle suicide rates in the country’s prisons.
The Crown Office said in September 2019 that it would not bring charges against the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) over William’s death. The family’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said SPS and NHS Forth Valley will be served with a summons on Tuesday, October 26. In a statement on behalf of the family, Anwar said: “William was in the ‘high risk of suicide’ category. From 2012 to 2018, William had significant involvement with mental health services and was the subject of numerous assessments.”
The statement added: “Despite this information, we know he was removed from the observation cell and William was described as ‘being safe and secure’, and consequently was assessed as ‘no apparent risk’ and removed from the prison ‘talk to me strategy’. It is alleged he was not treated according to the standard operating procedures as a child should have been.”
The family understands that William was in his cell on his own for long periods of time the day before he killed himself.
Anwar said the family “no longer has any trust in the Scottish Government, the Scottish Prison Service or an FAI to deliver justice or the truth”. He added: “Corporate homicide is, of course, the correct legal term, but William’s mother believes what happened to her son can only be described as ‘state-sanctioned murder’.”
After learning SPS would not be prosecuted, the family submitted a victims’ right to review (VRR) – a scheme which enables victims to seek a review of why the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service has decided to prosecute or not prosecute.
The VRR said: “The family of William Brown or Lindsay argue that SPS were under a duty to take reasonable care to prevent him while in custody from taking his own life deliberately. SPS failed to do so, and in what can only be characterised as a gross breach of its relevant duty of care, caused or materially contributed to his death.”
“William was an obvious high suicide risk. His suicide was therefore a foreseeable consequence of SPS’s failure of duty, which occurred when he was placed in a cell in circumstances that provided him with the opportunity to carry out that act.
“In these circumstances, as recognised in case law referred to in this VRR, SPS must be held accountable and indicted for the crime of corporate homicide under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article