Sheriff Principal Abercrombie’s review of the fatal accident system is to be welcomed. In my view, there are aspects of the system which cry out for such a review. The main problem, as I see it, is delay for which, sometimes, there is no explanation.

One case which illustrates this is that of Lamara Bell and John Yiull, whose car went off the A9 near Stirling in July 2015. The determination in the FAI did not come out until 2023. The Crown’s position was that the matter was complicated, something which the sheriff did not accept. A 999 call was not acted upon and the couple were not found until three days after the incident.

Another, frankly appalling, example is that of Sophie Smith, a baby who died in 2017 in the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow but as of February 2025, no FAI had been started. Three young people died, within months of each other in HM Prison Shotts in 2021, but the FAI was not announced until 2023. Not much of a delay, perhaps, but on the face of it, the system needed to be examined carefully, and, with respect, sooner than two years.

Delays, like this, are to me unacceptable. If there is a defect in a system, responsible organisations will remedy this as soon as possible, perhaps following an investigation by the HSE, but this may not come out until an FAI some years later. If lessons have been learned, the public and, more important, the family of the deceased are entitled to know as soon as possible so that they can be as sure as they can be that there will not be any recurrence. If, however, the organisation is not responsible, the defective system may continue until the FAI, however many years down the road.

Another issue with undue delay is that the “wounds” occasioned by the death may have healed, or partially, but a delayed FAI may open them again which would be unfortunate.

Most people would regard these points as an ‘ASBO’ – a statement of the bleeding obvious!

Why there are the delays, I do not know. It may be that the Crown Office is overworked, or under-staffed or both, or for some reason, do not regards FAIs as important as they once did.

if, for whatever, reason, the Crown cannot get FAIs up and running sooner than is sometimes the case, that may point to the creation of another body with sole responsibility for FAIs.

Douglas J. Cusine