Inquiry to be held into Dale’s death

A FATAL Accident Inquiry is to be held into the death of a young Dundee dad, the Tele can reveal today.

Dale Thomson, 28, was treated at the city’s mental health-specialised Carseview Centre between January 8 and 10 last year after concerns were raised about his wellbeing and safety.

The Charleston father-of-one had been hearing voices, having paranoid ideas and tried to take his life days earlier.

He became restless and left the facility on January 10.

Dale was further assessed on January 23 but wasn’t detained on this occasion either, and he was found dead just four days later by his mum, Mandy McLaren.

Now, Dale’s family has been told that a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) will be held to investigate and determine the circumstances of his death.

Relatives argue that medics should be held accountable for not detaining Dale under the Mental Health Act.

Mandy said: “I received the letter confirming it on Saturday.

“They said they have sent the matter to Crown Counsel and they are granting us the FAI.

“Now all they need to do is set a date for us. It’s what we’ve been wanting, so the doctors that were involved with Dale have to stand up and explain their actions.

“I’m happy they’ve agreed to do this, because things need to change.

“To be honest, we didn’t expect to get the FAI.

“We were told right from the start it was unlikely, so we’ve been hoping for it rather than expecting it.”

Mandy’s solicitor, Danny Devine of Muir, Myles, Laverty, told the Tele this was a major step forward for the family.

He said: “Most cases of this kind never have a FAI held into them, so the Crown must think there is something going wrong with how Carseview is operating.

“I know Dale’s family is overjoyed there will be an FAI, and I know my client feels her son would still be alive if Carseview had done its job properly and hadn’t breached its duty of care.

“There have been up to 10 similar incidents at Carseview over the last five years, so there’s something quite wrong there.”

The remit of FAIs is often to see whether any “reasonable precautions” could have been taken to prevent a death.

They can also determine if there were any defects in the system of working that contributed to a death.

An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “As this is a legal matter, it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”

A Crown Office spokesman confirmed an FAI will be held and that no dates had been set.

Dale Thomson, who died after being released from the Carseview Centre, inset.