Cutbacks may have contributed to man dying in police cell, inquiry told

Checks missed as officers had 24 prisoners to look after

Staffing cuts in local policing could have played a part in the death of a man, Dundee Sheriff Court has heard.

Retired custody officer Linda Peddie was giving evidence at the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into Mark Hutton’s death, which happened while he was in West Bell Street police station on March 5 2016.

He was arrested the night before, intoxicated and driving erratically.

Ms Peddie, who had worked as a custody officer for 26 years, was on shift with colleague Brian Conway on the morning Mr Hutton died.

Also giving evidence yesterday was nurse Janine Watson, who said giving Mr Hutton water may have helped save his life.

Ms Peddie recalled how a similar FAI a number of years before had resulted in more custody officers being employed at the station. However, the numbers gradually dwindled, the court heard.

“We were running around like headless chickens,” Ms Peddie had said in a previous statement to police regarding the morning of the death.

Ms Peddie and Mr Conway were the only two custody officers on shift and had 24 prisoners to look after.

Of those, nine were to be checked every half hour and the remaining 15 prisoners requiring hourly checks.

Mr Hutton was among those to be seen every half hour because he was intoxicated when he was arrested.

The person in the cell next to Mr Hutton had taken up much of Ms Peddie’s time that morning.

That prisoner was not co-operating over getting his fingerprints taken.

It was during one of the several visits to that cell that checks on Mr Hutton seemed to have slipped. He had not been checked for almost an hour when he was found unconscious.

When asked if she and Mr Conway could have asked for more help, Ms

Peddie said they could but had stopped doing so as “we never always got it”.

She added: “They knew how busy we were. We shouldn’t have had to ask.”

When asked why she thought custody officer jobs were not being replaced, Ms Peddie said: “Cutbacks, I think.”

In her previous statement, Ms Peddie also said: “It is in my opinion that 24 prisoners is too many for two people.”

Janine Watson, the nurse called to Mr Hutton’s cell, said: “He wasn’t responding or breathing and I could see he had cyanosis (discoloured lips).”

She administered CPR, but Mr Hutton did not regain consciousness and was later declared dead.

The court had previously heard that Mr Hutton had not been given water during the 15 hours he was in custody.

The nurse said that she did not know if Mr Hutton could have survived if one of his checks had not been missed.

When asked if she thought water could have helped, Ms Watson said it may have helped “flush out his kidneys quicker”.

Police Scotland would not comment on an ongoing FAI.

Mark Hutton, who had been arrested while intoxicated, died in police custody.