Shock over suicide of Polmont teenager

● Prison official tells inquiry respectful mannerly boy wasn’t what he expected

A leading prisons official has described his shock and horror at learning of the death of a “respectful, well-mannered” teenager who hanged himself with his shoelace after being transferred to a young person’s prison from a secure unit for children.

Robert Wagstaff was found hanged in his cell at Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution, Stirlingshire, just a month after his 18th birthday.

Last week the Scottish Government announced that an independent expert would work with HM Inspectorate of Prisons to carry out an independent review into mental health services for young people at Polmont.

This follows calls for action after the deaths of Katie Allan 21 and William Lindsay, 16, – also known as William Brown – who took their own lives at Polmont. The details of the two tragedies were first revealed in The Scotsman.

Prison manager Calum Mccarthy, 55, told a fatal accident inquiry yesterday that when Robert arrived at Polmont in November 2016 he was initially kept in a segregation and rehabilitation unit because he had been involved in a violent incident at the secure unit, St Mary’s Kenmure, near Glasgow.

He was later transferred to mainstream accommodation within the jail, where he died two months later, after appearing in court and pleading guilty to assault.

The inquiry at Falkirk Sheriff Court heard Robert, from Paisley in Renfrewshire, had not been placed on any special observations within the jail.

On 23 November, 2016, a drugs and alcohol case worker who interviewed him in the segregation unit noted he was “struggling with mental health, anxiety, sleep problems and low mood” and referred him to the mental health team.

She arranged to see him again on 4 January, but this did not occur. When she tried to see him again the day before he killed himself, she was “unable to access him for his appointment” because he was on a work party. Mr Mccarthy, now an inspector with HM Inspectorate of Prisons, said he knew Robert because he was closely involved with the management of the SRU.

Mr Mccarthy said: “He certainly wasn’t what we were expecting from the care home.

“I heard he was quite violent, that there’d been a violent episode, but I never saw that from Robert. The reason I remember him is that I don’t usually find young people to be quite so respectful and mannerly as Robert was with me during his time.”

Mr Mccarthy said he had seen Robert only days before his death, while he was carrying out a tour of Iona Hall, Polmont, where the teenager was being held.

Mr Mccarthy said: “He actually approached me to say hello. We had a brief conversation. He said he was fine, he said he was OK. I had no idea what was going to happen in the next few days.”

Sheriff John Mundy, presiding, was told that solicitors representing Robert’s mother, Maureen Martin, had been forced to pull out from appearing at the inquiry because legal aid had been refused. 0 William Lindsay was one of three suicidesatpolmont