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nothing, nothing about how officers allowed him to leave their care, and nothing about how he died. Now we find out the little that they have told us cannot be trusted.”
Mr Calder demanded chief constable Iain Livingstone take a personal interest in the investigation and ensure the family are properly informed.
“It is hard to take anything they tell us now at face value and if this whole affair has not reached the chief constable’s desk, then it should have. It is about the reputation of his force.
He said: “If I had not found this Eight weeks after his death, the family of Scott Calder still do not know where he was dropped by police On Friday afternoon, after being told CCTV footage of the area showed no patrol cars stopping where his parents had been told Scott was dropped, Police Scotland said he had, in fact, been put out of the car at another bus stop, near a caravan park on the outskirts of town.
This more isolated location is not covered by CCTV.
Two months after his death, police have still to tell his parents exactly when and where officers last saw him alive. After their son’s body was found on a beach on the morning of Sunday, October 14, police told Brian and Karen Calder that officers had dropped him at a bus stop, circled, in Port Seton around 11.20pm.
An officer took Brian there to show him exactly where his son was last seen alive and five weeks ago, we told how the couple were asking people living and working nearby if they had seen Scott?
On Friday, police said that was wrong. footage, and I had just accepted their original version of events, would they ever have told us this? Who knows? It feels like they will tell us anything. “We hear a lot from the police about trust and transparency but words are cheap.”
Scott, 23, was found dead the morning after a beer festival at Gosford House, Longniddry, exactly eight weeks ago.
The Master’s student had been picked up by officers after a 999 call was made, but was dropped off with no phone or wallet. Rugby star Scott had been at an Oktoberfest-themed event with friends when he became separated from his group on October, 13 2018.
He was seen staggering down the middle of a country road in the dark, alone, before being picked up by police officers. Officers spoke to Scott before driving him away. He was wearing a thin Lederhosen costume, with no jacket. The temperature was near freezing, and he had no phone to reach friends or family. He was unable to tell officers where he was going before being dropped at a bus stop.
On Friday, DCI Stuart Reid, of Lothian and Borders CID, said: “It was originally thought that Scott was taken by officers to the bus stop outside the Port Seton Co-op, however it was quickly established that he was taken to the bus stop near the caravan park. The CCTV and house to house strategies covered the entire stretch of road where all these bus stops are situated.”
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner have been criticised for deciding the officers had acted appropriately while the investigation into Scott’s death was still ongoing. They made the decision after a “review” not an investigation.
When asked for details on what they investigated or how they came to this conclusion, they said it would not be possible to provide details due to the ongoing police investigation.
PIRC said police told them they dropped Scott at the bus stop close to the caravan park, on the outskirts of Port Seton.