Cell suicide teen ‘said he was OK’
BY TIM BULGER A PRISON boss told a fatal accident inquiry yesterday that a teenager who committed suicide in his cell had shown no sign that he “wasn’t coping”.
Robert Wagstaff died at Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution a month after his 18th birthday.
Prison manager Calum McCarthy, 55, said he had seen Robert in the jail days before his death.
He told the FAI: “He actually approached me to say hello. We had a brief conversation. He said he was fine. He said he was OK.
“I had no idea what was going to happen in the next few days. I was quite shocked when I heard he had taken his own life.”
Depute fiscal Rosie Scott asked: “Was there anything about your dealings with him that gave you the impression that was something that might happen to him?”
McCarthy replied: “No, he gave no indication to me that he wasn’t coping. That’s what’s really horrible, that we didn’t see anything and he did what he did.”
Robert was transferred to Polmont, Stirlingshire, in November 2016 from a secure unit for children.
McCarthy, who is now an inspector with HM Inspectorate of Prisons, said the teenager was “respectful and mannerly”.
Robert, of Paisley, who admitted an assault charge, killed himself in January last year.
The inquiry at Falkirk Sheriff Court will continue in January.