Failure to carry out M9 crash FAI prompts calls for review of system
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Willie Rennie
Four years on from the M9 motorway crash in which John Yuill and Lamara Bell tragically died, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has warned that the current fatal accident inquiry (FAI) process urgently needs to be fixed and called for a full independent review of the FAI system.
An FAI for the crash has still not taken place.
Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC said in August 2016 that it would be “inconceivable” not to hold an inquiry into the crash.
Ms Bell, 25, and Mr Yuill, 28, were found in their car three days after they crashed near Stirling. Mr Yuill died at the scene and Ms Bell later died in hospital.
Mr Rennie said: “The agony for the families and friends of Lamara and John goes on and on. The initial event was tragic, the delays are unforgivable.
“The current FAI process urgently needs to be fixed. This should be a people-centred system, but at the moment it’s bureaucratic and slow. Families are facing agonising waits for closure.
“If these inquiries can’t lead to timely lessons learned, then what is their value?”
“Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for the Scottish Government to commission a full independent review of the system of Fatal Accident Inquiries, ten years on from the Cullen Review, to investigate and propose reforms that address the protracted timescales, structural barriers and lack of public confidence in the process, including whether the FAI system should be removed from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.”
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