Parents of tragic student launch campaign to reform '˜broken' justice system

The family of Katie Allan have launched a campaign for better safeguards of vulnerable prisoners.

The parents of a vulnerable student who took her own life in Polmont prison after being subjected to bullying and 'targeted' strip searches are to press justice minister Humza Yousaf to bring about 'radical reform' of the prison service.

Katie Allan’s family say she was “brutalised” and “tormented” by inmates and staff, leading her to commit suicide just three months into a 16 month sentence.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty at Paisley Sheriff Court in March to two charges after driving more than four times over the legal alcohol limit last August, causing serious injury to Michael Keenan, a teenager she struck with her car. She was found dead in her cell on 4 June.

Her parents, Linda and Stuart, said although Katie’s guilt was never in doubt, she was remorseful for her actions, and they have been backed by the Keenan family in their campaign to change the criminal justice system.

The Allans claim the Scottish Prison Service failed in its duty of care to their daughter, and have called for a review of how female offenders are treated in custody and the provision of mental health services in prison.

They also say Katie could have been punished with a non-custodial sentence, pointing out that a social work report recommended community service, and intend to press for a review of sentencing guidelines.

Aamer Anwar, the human rights lawyer who is representing the Allan family, said jail sentences were not handed down in similar cases, including convictions for death by careless driving.

Speaking at a press conference at the University of Glasgow, where Katie was in the third year of a human geography degree, Mrs Allan said her daughter made a “fatal decision” when deciding to get behind the wheel of her car on 10 August that year, a decision that “cost Katie her life.”

She explained: “We had confidence in the system. We had trust in the justice system that ultimately cost our daughter her life and all but destroyed ours.

“So broken is our justice system, so shrouded in institutional secrecy, so covered in the dust from the endless circling wagons, we simply could not stay silent. It is time for radical change.”

Mrs Allan said she and her husband were not prepared to wait for the results of a Fatal Accident Inquiry which would “change nothing,” adding that they had already raised a catalogue of failings with Brenda Stewart, Polmont’s governor, in the days after Katie’s death.

They include claims that: Katie was singled out for strip searches; she did not receive a