Death in custody of murderer Tobin will be probed
An inquiry has been launched into the death of Johnstone murderer Peter Tobin.
The serial killer died on October 8, 2022 at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI).
He had been an inmate at HMP Edinburgh, serving three life sentences for the murders of three women and girls.
He had been admitted to the ERI on September 9, 2022 after a fall in his cell.
While under the eye of GeoAmey officers in hospital, the 76-year-old was being treated for a broken hip and was receiving palliative care following a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has announced that a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) will now be conducted to determine the circumstances that led to his death in custody.
A preliminary hearing will be held on Monday, May 27 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Procurator fiscal Andy Shanks said: “The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Peter Tobin occurred while in legal custody and as such a fatal accident inquiry is mandatory.
“The lodging of the first notice enables FAI proceedings to commence under the direction of the sheriff.”
Tobin - who was born in Johnstone and spent time living in Renfrew and Glasgow, as well as the south of England - was first convicted of murder in 2007.
The twisted killer was found guilty of bludgeoning 23-year-old Angelika Kluk to death. The Polish student had gone missing while working as a cleaner at a church in Glasgow in September 2006.
Another of Tobin’s victims was 15-yearold Vicky Hamilton, whose murder he was convicted of in 2008 after her remains were found in a house in Margate where he lived in the 90s. She was last seen waiting for a bus to Falkirk in 1991. A search at the same property one month later uncovered the remains of 18-year-old sixth former Dinah McNicol from Tillingham, Essex, who had gone missing on August, 5, 1991 after hitchhiking back from a festival in Liphook, Hampshire, when Tobin picked her up.
It is believed he had a hand in many more murders too. Tobin was suspected of the murder of Dorothea Meechan whose body was found in 1971 in Renfrew, where he lived.
Before Tobin passed away, police had looked at hundreds of unsolved cases to see if they could be linked to the killer. His jail cell was sealed off following his death with his personal effects, including letters and papers, examined for any evidence.
His body went unclaimed and his cremation was ultimately organised by Edinburgh City Council. His ashes were secretly dumped at sea.
Unlike criminal proceedings, FAIs are inquisitorial in nature, and are used to establish facts rather than to apportion blame.
The purpose of the FAI includes determining the cause of death; the circumstances in which the death occurred, and to establish what, if any, reasonable precautions could have been taken, and could be implemented in the future, to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.