The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Fears Katie ‘bullied by offenders’
Aprison officer assigned to monitor a 21-year-old who took her own life while serving a sentence has said she was unaware of reports she was being bullied.
Heather Porter, 47, who acted as Katie Allan’s second personal officer during her time in custody at Polmont Young Offenders Institution in 2018, said she did not have access to a system where the incidents were recorded.
She was giving evidence on the third day of a fatal accident inquiry at Falkirk Sheriff Court examining the circumstances of Ms Allan’s death in June 2018, and the death of William Brown, 16, also known as William Lindsay, there four months later.
The court was shown documents logging that in April 2018, intelligence had been received that Ms Allan and another inmate were being bullied by a third prisoner.
Asked if she was aware of this situation, Mrs Porter replied: “We can’t access that intelligence.”
Advocate depute Leanne Cross then asked about a second receipt of intelligence recorded in June that year that Ms Allan was being threatened in relation to her losing her hair through alopecia.
Mrs Porter said she was aware of Ms Allan’s condition but she told the inquiry she believed several young women occupying the same hall were “supportive”.
Mrs Porter also noted Ms Allan was trying to get a university degree. She said: “Katie was unusual for a young offender. She really regretted her crime.”
Earlier yesterday, mental health nurse Alan MacFarlane who assessed Ms Allan on her arrival at Polmont from Cornton Vale Prison told the inquiry he wrote in a risk assessment he had “no concern” about her “based on her current presentation”.
The court also heard it was recorded in Ms Allan’s medical notes at Cornton Vale she had previously self-harmed.
Ms Allan was found dead in her cell on June 4 2018 while serving a 16-month sentence for drinkdriving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Mr Brown was found dead in his cell on October 7 the same year. The inquiry, before Sheriff Simon Collins KC, continues.