First Minister pledges action on suicides

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said her government will look at the issue of secure provision as well as mental health support at Polmont Young Offenders Institution following a teenager’s suicide.

William Lindsay, also known as Brown, 16, killed himself within 48 hours of being remanded at Polmont, despite having been flagged up as a suicide risk.

It is understood the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and Glasgow’s chief social work officer had wanted William to be put in a secure unit, but there were no places available.

Earlier this week, the family of Katie Allan, who also took her own life at Polmont, met with Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf amid concerns of a “spiralling epidemic” of suicides in Scotland’s prisons.

Asked by Labour MSP Pauline Mcneill about an apparent 11 per cent reduction in the number of secure places, Ms Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament the issue would be “seriously looked at”.

She said:“looking in particular at the case of William Lindsay, there are a number of things I want to address and make sure we look at properly. The issue of secure care provision is certainly one of those issues; how we do even more to keep young people out of the criminal justice system altogether and, of course, the issue of mental health support within Polmont itself. These are all issues under the active consideration of the Scottish Government.”