The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Police chief’s apology to the Bryant family
Footage of missing Allan Jr was not released early enough in the inquiry
Police have offered “sincere apologies” to the family of missing Glenrothes man Allan Bryant over the delayed release of CCTV images.
Allan has not been seen since he left Styx nightclub in Glenrothes during the early hours of November 3, 2013. He was 23 at the time.
Images of him on the night he disappeared were not released until seven months later as a result of an “operational policing decision”.
In a letter to Allan’s father, Allan Bryant Sr, Chief Inspector Samantha Ainslie of Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department admitted that CCTV footage of his son’s last known movements “was available and could have been released at an earlier stage to complement other community/public engagement measures”.
Footage was withheld because it was deemed to be of low quality and there was concern images showing Allan Jr under the influence of alcohol might have caused “unnecessary distress” to the family.
But Chief Inspector Ainslie upheld Allan Sr’s complaint over the decision and offered her “sincere apologies for any distress caused as a result of the delayed release of this CCTV footage”.
Allan Sr, 52, believes if the footage had been released earlier, it could have helped the inquiry into his son’s disappearance.
And he has now demanded that Police Scotland release previously unseen images of his son on the night he went missing.
He said: “My family were in distress because they were not releasing it. We know Allan was drunk. I want the police to release all of the CCTV footage from outside Styx nightclub.
“When they released the footage in June 2014, they released only a minute or two of footage showing Allan exiting the door of the club and making his way up the few steps to the pavement area.
“I want Police Scotland to release this footage within the next four weeks.”
He said he would not rest until his son was found and police had done the right thing by his family, adding: “This will not stop here. I will be taking this failure all the way to the top.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We considered the findings of the Complaint Handling Review carried out by the PIRC and have now written to Mr Bryant with our response, in which we offered our sincere apologies that we did not release the CCTV footage sooner.
“We remain committed to getting answers for the Bryant family and any information we receive from the community will be assessed and further action taken where appropriate.”