4888 deaths, of grief.. and
Not a single investigation into the thousands of deaths from Covid-19 in Scotland’s care homes has been completed since the criminal probe was launched almost two years ago.
The Sunday Mail can reveal that the Crown, which has already spent more than £1.5million, has failed to conclude any one of the 4888 cases.
Many of the bereaved families, who have heard nothing from investigators, believe it could be years before they get to the truth.
Caroline Grattan said the governmentsanctioned policy of discharging Covid patients from hospitals into homes could have been responsible for her 8 8 - yea r - old mum Margaret’s death.
She said: “My heartbreak has turned to rage. I bel ieve cr iminal n e g l i g e n c e wa s responsible for many of these deaths but we are being totally betrayed by the authorities who promised us answers.”
Former lord advocate James Wol f fe promised the investigation – which could lead to criminal prosecutions – in May 2020 in the face of public outrage at the failure to protect the most vulnerable people.
An 18- strong Crown Office team with a £1million- a-year budget insisted 19 months ago the work would be completed “relatively quickly”. But Police Scotland has refused to say how many officers, if any, it has dedicated to the investigations or whether government ministers and public health officials will ever be interviewed.
Aamer Anwar, lawyer for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group, said the probe was a “smokescreen” that wi l l del iver “absolutely nothing”.
He said: “The so-called i nve s t igat ion is just another black hole at the
Crown Of f ice