Families of pair who died at Polmont YOI to meet First Minister
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The families of two people who took their own lives in a young offenders institution are to meet the First Minister and Justice Secretary as the Scottish Government considers “improvements” in the prison system. Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, also known as William Lindsay, died in their cells at Polmont Young Offenders Institution (YOI) in 2018 within months of each other.
Glasgow University student Ms Allan was found dead on June 4 while serving a 16-month sentence for drink-driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Mr Brown, who had made repeated attempts on his life in 2017 which were detailed in reports provided on his admission to Polmont, was found dead in his cell on October 7 – three days after he was remanded due to a lack space in a children’s secure unit.
A sheriff found there were reasonable precautions by which both deaths might realistically have been avoided, and that systemic failures contributed to them, in his determination last week following a fatal accident inquiry into their deaths. On Wednesday, the families’ solicitor Aamer Anwar announced they will meet with First Minister John Swinney and Justice Secretary Angela Constance on Thursday.
Ms Constance is expected to make a statement in Holyrood after the meeting where she will outline the steps taken to improve conditions in Scottish prisons. A statement by Mr Anwar, on behalf of Ms Allan’s parents Linda and Stuart, and John Reilly, brother of Mr Brown, said: “Katie Allan was 21 years old when she was found in her cell at Polmont YOI, on June 4 2018, after taking her own life. Katie was a geography student at the University of Glasgow, who was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to drink-driving and causing serious injury.
