Watching boy accused of daughter’s death walk free haunts me more than day she died
Family want to honour their girl by helping to get ‘not proven’ taken out of Scots legal system
THE dad of ecstasy death schoolgirl Grace Handling has called for an end to the “cruel” not proven verdict as a major review on its future gets underway.
Grief-stricken Stewart Handling’s family are among those who have contributed to a longawaited Scottish Government consultation, launched this week, on whether to abolish the country’s unique three-verdict system.
Grace was just 13 when she died after taking deadly pills on the last day of the school year.
Stewart, from Irvine, Ayrshire, watched the man accused of killing his daughter walk free from court on a not proven verdict – after admitting giving her the class A drug and leaving her dead on his living-room floor.
Stewart says the verdict haunts him more than the day Grace died and hopes to give evidence at Holyrood in the later stages of the review.
He wants to tell ministers, in person, how the not proven verdict has failed his daughter and thousands of others.
Stewart said: “I responded to the consultation straight away on behalf of my family and Grace as I don’t believe her case has been dealt with justly – and it’s still not been justified why she died.
“The impact has been huge. All I do with my life now is look back on that day in court. I barely look back on the day she died, it’s more the court case and the verdict that was delivered.
“Not proven is a terrible law. It’s totally unacceptable to have a verdict which doesn’t prove either guilt or innocence.
“It’s inappropriate and a get-out-of-jail free card for too many.” The three-month consultation will gather views on the three-verdict model from the public, legal professionals and those with experience of the justice system. The process will also consider jury size, the majority required for conviction and corroboration. Not proven is seen by some as offering extra protection to the accused, ensuring their acquittal if the jury has any doubts. But critics say it causes confusion as there is no legal or generally accepted definition of the verdict. The case against trainee chef Callum Owens, 20, was found not proven at the High Court in Glasgow last year. He went on trial accused of killing Grace by recklessly supplying her with ecstasy in June 2018.
Owens told the court he permitted her to take a pill and woke up to find her cold and lifeless on his living-room floor.
He claimed he attempted CPR before fleeing the flat without calling for help.
The jury heard he messaged a friend saying he had “killed a c***, man,” admitting he had given Grace pills and saying he was “probably never coming back”. He denied culpable homicide.
The court heard that Grace had taken the drug previously, in the months before her death.
Stewart said he watched a “character assassination” of his daughter by Owens’ defence team before the verdict was returned.
He said: “Yes, Grace should never have taken the drugs but she wasn’t in a good place for a few months and was very vulnerable.
“Why he didn’t get an ambulance for her is something that will never leave me. It’s inhumane.”
Stewart considered a private prosecution but feared the case would have been hindered by red tape and also incur huge costs.
He said the consultation had given him and other families a chance to speak up for victims.
Stewart said: “Grace should be here to achieve her goals and aspirations. Myself and other victims’ families have been waiting for this chance to speak out on not proven and now it’s here. It may take years to see change but the clock is ticking on this terrible law.”