Why did my boy die? A mother’s desperate hunt for the truth
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Twelve weeks ago today, Scott Calder’s body was found on a beach in East Lothian. How he got there, and how he died, are still a mystery ... at least to his parents Karen and Brian. Today – as Karen grows increasingly desperate to know the truth – she speaks for the first time about her son, and the pain and confusion she feels over the circumstances of his death
IN her home in Ayr, Karen Calder is wrapped in a purple puffer jacket, her blue eyes staring straight ahead from behind her thick blonde hair. Sighing, she shakes her head and looks over at a picture on the mantelpiece – a fair-haired handsome young man sitting on a novelty oversized deck chair, with his arms folded.
Another photograph shows a cheerful baby, with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes laughing towards the camera. Both pictures are of Scott Calder, Karen’s son and her only child, who was found dead on a beach in Longniddry, East Lothian, exactly 12 weeks ago.
“I know nothing is going to bring Scott back,” she said, wiping her eyes.
“But it might make it easier to deal with if we know as much as possible about what happened to him. I can’t give up until we know that.
“I feel like we’ve been left in limbo and if everyone stays quiet, we will go away. That isn’t going to happen though.”
The circumstances surrounding Scott’s death are, for the most part, a mystery to 53-year-old Karen and her ex-husband Brian. They know police officers picked their son up after receiving a call from a concerned member of the public, who spotted Scott staggering down a rural country road in the dark. They know he had no phone or wallet, and they know he didn’t come home alive.
Now Karen has spoken exclusively to The Herald on Sunday for the first time about the impact of her son’s death, and how she and Brian’s search for answers has taken its toll on every part of their lives.
On October 13 last year, 23-year-old Masters student Scott Calder was celebrating. The day before he had
discovered he passed his degree in criminal and forensic psychology at Edinburgh Napier University and would be graduating with the rest of his classmates in a few weeks’ time.
Karen texted him later that night saying how proud she was of his results, but her son would never see the message and she would never hear from him again.
The keen rugby player and five of his friends headed for Gosford House, a stately home which now hosts events, for an Oktoberfest-themed beer festival.
Around 10pm, as the event was winding up, Scott became separated from his friends. They’d been drinking for hours and an argument broke out as they were heading for a pre-booked bus to take them back to Edinburgh.
Scott, wearing a distinctive lederhosen costume bought specifically for the night, started making his way down a poorly lit country road, where the speed limit was 60mph. He was walking away from the venue while his friends got on the bus.
According to witnesses, he could barely stand or walk and, due to the lack of public pathways, he was staggering in the middle of the road.
At least one man tried to help Scott but he was too intoxicated and a taxi driver refused to let him in to the cab. Other passers-by were so concerned they called the police and a video was later sent to the force showing Scott worse for wear in the middle of the carriageway.
Two officers picked Scott up, put him in the back of their car and drove two miles down the road before
deciding he was capable enough of looking after himself. Around 11.20pm they let him out at a remote bus stop on the outskirts of Port Seton, a small coastal town half an hour from Edinburgh. It was the last time Scott was seen alive. His body was found on Longniddry Bents beach around 7.45am the next day by a member of the public.
Nursery teacher Karen has spent the last 12 weeks wondering what could have been different if her son had not been dropped off by officers, or if he had got on the bus with his friends instead of wandering off. She also wonders if her son would be alive today if he had brought his mobile phone with him, or if he had been taken to the cells for the night to sober up.
The constant whirring in her head never stops, she said. “Not even when I’m asleep.” Until now she has remained relatively silent about her son’s death, allowing her ex-husband to speak on behalf of the couple and take the reins on the investigation. However, she has now decided to break her silence in the hope it will help them get the answers they need.
She explained: “I’m not looking for anyone to blame. Neither is Brian, we’re not looking for that. We just feel let down by the police and we have no answers as to what happened to our son. As a parent, I have to do everything I can to try and find out what happened to him.”
Christmas, Karen said, was not a special occasion in her usually bustling house.
Seats normally taken up by her son, mother, aunt and brother lay empty and spare bedrooms remained cold and dark. She and her partner Gordon didn’t do much, and they hoped the day would pass quickly without any fuss.
“Christmas was terrible, it was the worst ever,” said Karen, shaking her head and looking towards Scott’s photograph again.
“It was almost as bad as the day we found out about Scott. Normally Scott would spend Christmas with us, and we’d have family round. It is supposed to be a celebration but there was nothing to celebrate this year.
“At New Year, Scott would have been with his friends but Christmas was always a family time, and we would celebrate with the rest of our family here.
“This New Year, I couldn’t face it. I just switched my phone off. I couldn’t bear to read any messages saying ‘Happy New Year’. I know people mean well, but it was just too upsetting.
“I feel like we’ve been left in limbo. The police said they would support the Calder family, but we’ve had none. Their silence speaks volumes.”
Karen and Scott’s dad Brian, a bomb disposal expert now living in America, say they feel let down by Police Scotland’s lack of support in helping them piece together their son’s final moments.
They have requested CCTV footage seen by officers, which may show the last images of their son alive.
They have asked to see police reports from the officers who spoke with Scott on the night before his death, and they have asked for answers as to why he was dropped at a bus stop near the beach, in the middle of nowhere, late at night.
All of their requests have so far been either refused or left unanswered.
Karen said: “There is CCTV footage they won’t let us see and say it’s due to data protection, but you can’t even see anyone’s face apparently. Who is it they are protecting here, is it themselves? That’s what it sounds like.
“They told us there was a person sitting beside the road, near the bus stop we know Scott was at, but they’ve said it ‘wasn’t very clear’. I don’t understand why we can’t see that.
“I keep picturing this in my head, I keep picturing my son sitting on the pavement because I’m sure it’s him. Why did they tell us about this if they can’t allow us to see it?
“I’d like to know why police dropped him where they did. Why was he not brought further in to the town, where it was busy, and it was away from the water? The bus stop he was left at, it was right across from the beach basically. It wouldn’t have been busy.
“We have asked to see any police incident reports from the night in question and statements from officers who worked with Scott on the night, but we were told no. Again, it makes us feel as if something is being hidden or covered up.
“We are not blaming the police for what happened to our son. We have family members who are in the police, we respect what they do and we know every job is hard. But there needs to be transparency here that just isn’t happening.”
The family’s criticism has not been
Christmas was terrible, it was the worst ever. It was almost as bad as the day we found out about Scott
accepted by the force, whose officers insist they are working to support the family and are continuing their investigation into Scott’s death.
Indeed, when the force was asked to respond to Karen’s criticisms for this story, the lead detective dealing with the case called the grieving mum directly and told her he felt her comments were unfair.
The same officer, Chief Inspector Stuart Reid, told The Herald on Sunday: “We submitted a report to the procurator fiscal following the death of Scott Calder and are currently awaiting a final pathology report to establish the full circumstances surrounding his death.
“Our thoughts remain with Scott’s family and friends and we will update the family with the outcome once this is available.”
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) said they were informed of the incident and investigated police actions before deciding they were appropriate. They previously said they were taking no further action in the case.
Karen takes one last look at the picture on the mantelpiece.
“I just want to know, as far as they can tell me, my son’s last steps. It maybe was a tragic accident, or maybe it could have been avoided. As a parent I need to try and find out.
“Nothing is going to bring him back, I know that. But I need to try to find out what happened, and I need answers as far as we can get them.”
I’m not looking for anyone to blame. Neither is Brian, we’re not looking for that. We just feel let down by the police and we have no answers as to what happened to our son. As a parent, I have to do everything I can to try and find out what happened to him