Katie Allan's family call for change in law after FAI findings

Aamer Anwar said today that the organisation’s ‘licence to kill’ must be removed after a damning fatal accident inquiry into the tragic suicides of student Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, while in custody.

Mr Anwar told a packed press conference how he believes Katie and William would almost certainly still be alive today if they had not been so badly failed by the system.

William and Katie have been failed, their families said today. (Image: supplied) He said: “For the last six years, my firm has acted as solicitors for the families of Katie and William. We had the determination disclosed to us by the court at 10am yesterday morning and the families were given just 24 hours to digest the 419 pages.

“The Scottish Prison Service, former prison governors, senior management at Polmont, thee Scottish Government, first ministers and successive justice ministers should all hang their heads in shame.

“They are complicit in the deaths that continue to take place and they did more than fail the most vulnerable people in our society, they ignored the cries for help. We do not have a death sentence in this country but for Katie and William that is what was served on them.”

Mr Anwar said that the families of those he represents now want justice for their loved ones.

He added: “They do not want empty soulless words of sorrow and condolences. For over six years, the people mentioned denied the truth, lied and conducted a whitewash. They gaslighted families and the fact is some should be facing criminal prosecution, but whilst Crown Immunity remains, they will remain secure in a lack of accountability.”

Mr Anwar said that he believed those responsible should be facing criminal charges, adding: “To be clear, the Crown Office told us before the FAI commenced there was more than sufficient evidence to prosecute the Scottish Prison Service for the deaths of Katie and William under health and safety laws, but because they have crown immunity nothing could be done.”

Katie and William were both found dead in their cells during separate incidents in 2018. Both had taken their own lives.

(Image: Colin Mearns)

The solicitor says the families now have the backing of every political party to call on the Prime Minister to remove Crown Immunity from all prisons.

He said: “Our next stage is to take this to Keir Starmer and ask him to fulfil the promise made some 20 years ago by a Labour government to remove Crown Immunity.

“A message for our Justice Secretary, enough of your letters to the UK Government, nobody is listening and we expect much more from you. We can tell you that we are assured of the support of every political party to support the removal of crown immunity that grants the SPS a license to kill.

“Whilst it is not the job of FAIs to apportion blame, it is clear from the sheriff’s findings that had the Scottish Prison Service simply done its job, then Katie Allan and William Lindsay may have been alive today. The failures were systemic, catastrophic and incompetent. Individuals either ignored processes or simply conducted a cover up, they failed to keep records, their systems were archaic and their failure to act was as described by one prison officer ‘criminally negligent’.

Read More: Verdict of FAI into Katie Allan and William Brown deaths | Glasgow Times

“There was nothing inevitable about William and Katie taking their own lives, it was clear to anybody that cared to look, that they were vulnerable and at risk. Locking people up in dungeons of despair doesn’t rehabilitate anyone. It institutionalises violence and increases a risk of suicide.”

Katie’s heartbroken mum Linda says her family have gone through six and a half years of torment waiting for the determination into her daughter’s death in Polmont.

Photo: Gordon Terris. (Image: supplied) She said: “We did not know it was possible to feel such a range of emotions at once, until Aamer began to read the determination to us yesterday. We felt anger, relief, vindication, pain and ever-present grief. Katie was brutalised in Polmont, so much so that she lost all hope and saw only one solution.

Katie Allan (Image: supplied) “She did not ‘thrive’ as claimed by a witness at her FAI – she was bullied, petrified, she was lost. She lost her hair and was taunted, her mental health suffered and one nurse couldn’t even be bothered recording accurate records on their antiquated systems. We sat through four weeks of harrowing evidence, in itself traumatic, only to listen to a coven of KCs and solicitors representing the state attempt time and time again to shed doubt on truth and protect their own.”

John Reilly, William’s brother, told how his family have experienced so much heartache and grief that it will never leave them.

He said: “My mother never stopped crying after William’s loss, but she also never gave up fighting. In the end, she died of a broken heart in December 2021. I have so much to say, but there are also still so many questions - why was this ever be allowed to happen to a child? He was my baby brother; he was just a terrified little boy.”

John says the wait for answers has been unacceptable.

He added: “The sheriff has turned his fire on every failure of the SPS. I ask why has it taken our family over six years to get answers? The only thing I know is that William’s and Katie’s legacy must be real change, not empty promises.

“Whilst some would call the system corrupt, well I just call it the Scottish Prison Service. They act as they though are a God with a total freedom to kill There are those who should be in prison for William’s death, yet it appears they will never suffer any consequences - it is time the law was changed.”