Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and FAIs in Scotland – 2023

Published: 13 June 2024

Research insight

This is the third annual report released on deaths in custody in Scotland and the investigations into them. Previously, concentrated on deaths in prison. This report includes deaths in all types of state custody where public information was available.

 

This report includes information about deaths in the following areas:

  • Prisons
  • Police custody and contact
  • Immigration detention and asylum accommodation
  • Detention under the Mental Health Act
  • Looked after children and young people
  • People with learning disabilities and autistic people in psychiatric hospitals

In the first part, we cover the deaths of people in the care or custody of the state over the past year and in the longer term. In the second part, we analyse the characteristics of Scotland’s public system for investigating deaths – fatal accident inquiries (FAIs).

The report was written by Prof Sarah Armstrong, Betsy Barkas, Linda Allan, Stuart Allan, and Debbie Cairns.

Read the full report on the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website.


First published: 13 June 2024