Let us hope glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is sunshine... and not another train
FAI report criticises lack of communication between services
So “we can now see the sunlight” according to Boris Johnson or, in the more circumspect words of Nicola Sturgeon, “we can see the light at the end of the tunnel”, at the critical stage in the fight against Covid-19.
One or both of them might be right but, in this frenetic crisis, one or both might be wrong tomorrow.
But one thing seems certain. If the majority of lockdown restrictions are not lifted soon, and our fragile economy is not somehow rebooted, then the damage caused to our nation’s mental health and wellbeing may become irreparable.
Instead of looking forward to a promising, prosperous future, our children face many years of uncertainty, their lives in danger of being permanently scarred by these awful events.
You don’t have to look far for evidence of the mental damage this enforced lockdown has had already on the nation’s psyche. Once calm, rational people seem teetering on the edge of rage and panic, as a trip to the shops becomes a stressful stop-start obstacle course of social distancing, hard stares and suspicion.
From taping up or, in Blackness, removing public benches (I expect to stop outsiders sitting on them), to those who scream at people who have forgotten to wear a mask, or criticise fellow supermarket shoppers for inadvertently standing 1.8 metres apart, rather than the recommended two metres.
Assaults, some serious, on shoppers and shop workers are apparently now on the rise. A close teenage relation of mine, whose part-time job is to monitor and control the numbers of those entering the store he works in, was when he finished work verbally assaulted and then asked for a square go by a 50-something lout.
Or the others who think the best way to social distance on a canal tow path is to walk along holding a stick out vertically at chest height? I nearly ended up in the canal with my bike!
And of course there are those, with gardens, who phone the police to complain about those who do not, but have the temerity to sit in a park, or on a beach, miles from anyone, on a sunny day.
If we are to ever get back to some sort of normality, and live our lives free of fear and anxiety, coronavirus or not, then this divisive and aberrant behaviour, brought about by the lockdown and an obsession with social distancing, has to stop. If not, society’s mental health will only worsen. Common sense must prevail and a phased lifting of the lockdown in Scotland, when we all feel it’s safe or safer to do so, must take place.
The Prime Minister is today expected to signal some restrictions could be eased from tomorrow; things like visits to garden centres and family trips to country parks may be allowed soon.
By June, Downing Street apparently hopes tennis, golf and angling might be allowed and, if all goes well and there is no second spike, the opening of pubs and restaurants?
Our First Minister is clearly not so sure and, rightly, will ensure Scots are properly protected before following London.
In the meantime, we wait and hope, hope and wait, watching for the sunlight to get brighter and the glimmer at the end of the tunnel to get bigger.
This week Vogue magazine shared its latest cover interview, but it wasn’t one of the young models we are so used to seeing photographed for their glossy pages. At the age of 85, actress Dame Judi Dench became the fashion bible’s oldest cover star
– and doesn’t she look absolutely amazing?
Not only is Judi an unbelievable actress, she was the perfect choice for Vogue to feature at a time when everyone is struggling. She is an institution, whom we have all come to know, respect and love over the decades.
There is something very comforting about seeing her face shining out from the magazine stand. In its interview, Vogue described the Oscar winner as “a kind of cultural tea cosy to be popped soothingly over the nation’s beleaguered identity in times of crisis”. Well, quite.
More and more women’s magazines have realised that diversifying to include different ages, sizes, shapes and colours is the right thing to do, and an octogenarian taking centre stage is yet another step in the right direction. After all, I bet very few of their readers look like the size-0 20-year-old models who usually feature in the editorials.
Judi might be the first but I hope she’s not the last granny to make fashion
history.
Dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, budgies and all manner of pets have been providing people with so much comfort during lockdown.
So, I was sad to see an increase in reports of so-called animal scams, where fraudsters con us out of money with false adverts for pets. People pay up, but the animals fail to materialise.
In April, the number of cases rose to 524 across the UK, as ruthless crooks took advantage of people seeking puppies and kittens for companionship during these tough times, stealing a collective £280,000. These criminals should hang their head in shame.
A mum has spoken of her loss at the death in prison of her son as it was revealed staff there had not been told he had repeatedly warned police he was going to take his own life.
Kim Banner says she is devastated at the suicide of son Zach, 22, who was on remand at Inverness jail. Following a Fatal Accident Inquiry, a sheriff has issued recommendations that information be shared better between police, health staff and the prison service.
The FAI heard that, while in police custody, Mr Banner told officers and nurses he intended to take his own life. These warnings were not passed on to prison staff. A nurse at the jail decided he was suicidal after his transfer but, the next day, a doctor decided he was not a risk to himself. He killed himself the next night.
Kim, of Alness, Ross-shire, said: “We have read the sheriff ’s report and are taking it in. We are completely devastated by Zach’s death and miss him every day.”
Sheriff Christopher Dickson’s FAI report, published last week, states police held Mr Banner after arriving at an address in Alness with a search warrant on December 28, 2017.
They spotted him next to a quad bike with a can of petrol. He splashed petrol over himself and told officers: “I’ll do it.”
He was taken to Inverness police station where he told an officer “he was depressed following Christmas, did not mean to get petrol on the officers and had been attempting to douse himself with petrol to set himself on fire to kill himself”.
Mr Banner, who had previous convictions and had been in prison before, was remanded in custody on December 29 on charges including housebreaking, theft, breach of bail and the attack on two officers. He was found unconscious in his cell in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2018. He was pronounced dead two days later.
Sheriff Dick son, in his recommendations, said health boards and the prison service should review the “contents and layout” of a form known as the Personal Escort Record used when a prisoner is moved.
He said this should include “in particular, information in relation to the risk of suicide, self-harm and risk of harm to others”.
Deborah Coles, director of death in custody campaign group Inquest, said: “This is a tragic case of a highly vulnerable young man, with multiagency failings to protect someone who had warned about his clear suicidal intent.
“The findings of the FAI are by no means unique to this case and point to a systemic failure to act on the learning of other deaths.”
Chief Superintendent Garry Mcewan, of Police Scotland’s Criminal Justice Services division, said: “We note the findings and recommendations of the FAI and have already taken steps to enhance the communication between custody suites and prisoner transfer services when an individual is moved from one of our facilities to court or prison.”
NHS Highland said: “We will work with Police Scotland and others as they consider whether our pilot system for inter-agency information sharing should be rolled out across Scotland.”
Scottish Prison Service said: “We are consulting with Police Scotland and others to review how information is passed between agencies.”