Catalogue of errors led House to the exit
IN the brief period since it was formed on April Fool’s Day, 2013, Police Scotland has been beset by disaster and controversy.
An investigation is ongoing into the death of Sheku Bayoh, who was detained by police in May after being accused of carrying a knife.
The 31-year-old fell unconscious after being restrained by six officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife. His family claim handcuffs, leg restraints and CS spray were used on him and the case is being probed by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.
Outgoing Chief Constable Sir Stephen House apologised, then later resigned, after mother-of-two Lamara Bell, 25, was found in the wreckage of a car three days after it left the M9 near Stirling. It turned out a call reporting the crash was never logged.
Miss Bell, whose boyfriend John Yuill lay dead beside her, was conscious when the emergency services finally reached her but died in hospital on July 5, a week after being found.
The scandal has been blamed on Sir Stephen’s decision to axe 2,000 nonpolice staff through budget cuts, forcing officers to cover duties previously carried out by civilians. It has emerged that Sergeant Brian Henry, who was working at Bilston Glen call centre in Midlothian when the crash call came in, had not received proper training.
Sir Stephen has also had to apologise over Police Scotland’s controversial stop-and-search policy, having misled watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS).
In February this year, Police Scotland claimed that only 18 under-12s had been stopped and searched following a promise to stop the practice in June 201 . But in April, HMICS said the true figure was 83 and added that it had ‘no confidence’ in the Police Scotland statistics.
Meanwhile, a damning report by the Scottish Police Authority condemned ‘high-handed’ force chiefs over a secret order allowing armed officers to carry out minor duties where there was no threat to life. It emerged they had done so 30,000 times in a year.
Following a promise to end the routine arming of officers, two constables were seen shopping three months ago while carrying handguns.
But earlier this year, Sir Stephen insisted: ‘The column of things we are getting right is far longer than the one we are getting wrong.’