Several grieving Scottish families are gearing up to join a meeting in Glasgow to address the increasing rates of deaths in detention. The meeting, scheduled at the City Chambers from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday (October 10), will be overseen by Glasgow Councillor Graham Campbell. Families affected by the losses of Scots like Sheku Bayoh and Allan Marshall will share their stories at the gathering. The aim of the public meeting is to shed light on Scotland’s high incidence of deaths in detention.
Sheku Bayoh passed away while in police custody in Fife in May 2015, after becoming unconscious during a restraint by six officers. He was rushed to the hospital but later succumbed. An inquiry into his death is currently ongoing. Allan Marshall, a resident of Carluke in Lanarkshire, died at HMP Edinburgh in 2015 following an altercation with up to 17 prison officers, just days before his scheduled release. These officers were granted immunity from prosecution during a fatal accident inquiry into Marshall’s death. The Scottish Prison Service is under investigation for corporate homicide.
The public meeting is a precursor to a vigil planned by bereaved families in Edinburgh on October 26 in front of Bute House. The event is being co-organized by BLMUK and United Friends and Families. Professor Sarah Armstrong, a criminology chair at the University of Glasgow, will be among the speakers at the vigil. Armstrong, along with Linda Allan, mother of Katie Allan who tragically took her own life in Polmont Young Offenders Institution in 2018, revealed through research that deaths from suicide and drug overdoses have been increasing over the last eight years. They also highlighted a rise in prison suicides following the introduction of the SPS suicide prevention policy in 2016, as well as an increase in deaths after police contact.
One of Allan Marshall’s relatives, Sharon MacFadyen, voiced her frustrations over the lack of accountability for Allan’s death and the fight for justice. Professor Armstrong raised concerns over the high death in custody rates in Scotland and the limitations of the Fatal Accident Inquiry process. The families hope to bring attention to these issues and seek reform in the Scottish system regarding deaths in detention.
The meeting and subsequent vigil aim to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in detention and to advocate for transparency, accountability, and prevention measures to address the concerning rates of deaths in custody in Scotland.