We tried to give him a lift, looking back we wish we had
INVESTIGATION Witness says tragic student was clearly at risk before officers let him wander off
Awitness who saw student Scott Calder just before police took him into a patrol car after drinking too much has said he was clearly at risk.
His body was found on a beach the next morning after, according to the officers, he was driven to a bus stop and allowed to wander off alone.
Fraser Arnot, who had been at the same Oktoberfest event as Scott, describes seeing the student walking up the middle of an unlit road, when he was drunk, was struggling to talk or walk, and seemed incapable of looking after himself.
Mr Arnot, a plumber from Tranent, who had been at the beer festival with his wife and two friends, said: “It to o k us about 40 minutes or so to get out of the event.
“We left before the very end as we were trying to avoid the rush, but it was still really busy.
“Scott was in the middle of the road struggling to walk and there was a lot of traffic being backed up. He was in a bad state.
“We tried to give him a lift and, looking back, we wish we had done something but the police must have got to him within half an hour of us seeing him.
“When we saw the stories and heard that a man had been found on the beach, we were hoping it wasn’t the same man we saw but when we saw the photos of Scott, we knew it was.
“I don’t honestly know how the police could have thought it was okay to leave him alone.
“In my opinion he was in no fit
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state at all. He could barely walk never mind talk.”
Scott, 23, was found dead exactly four weeks ago after attending the event at Longniddry, East Lothian.
Police told his family that after a concerned member of the public raised the alarm, they took Scott into a patrol car and drove him three miles along the road before dropping him off at a bus stop in Port Seton at around 11.20pm He was found dead on a beach a mile and a half away the next morning.
Mr Arnot, 36, was in a taxi travelling along the Links Road at around 10.40pm, when they passed Scott shortly before a bend in the road.
The group tried to offer him a lift, but say their taxi dr iver was unwilling to let him in due to his condition.
Fraser said: “We thought we could help take him away from the area, it was so dangerous on that road with no lights or any sort of pavement.
“Then when we saw a police car round the corner we thought he would be safe because they would pick him up.
“We haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since that night to be honest. It’s just terrible what happened to him.
“I don’t know why he was dropped off in Port Seton in that state.
“I can’t really understand how he would have been fine to be left.”
Scott’s dad Brian Calder said the information from Fraser leaves more questions unanswered about why his son was left alone.
He said: “To hear my son was holding up traffic and vehicles by stumbling and staggering in the middle of the road breaks my heart.
“It sounds like he was not capable of walking and certainly not in control of himself.
“A police officer should surely have been able to establish that and taken Scott to a place of safety, whether that was home, a hospital or a police station.
“To then leave Scott alone only moved the problem down the road, ultimately leading to his death. How can the police officers believe that was the right decision?”
Last Saturday night the Sunday