Peter Tobin inquiry concludes death could not be prevented

Peter Tobin died in October 2022 at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the death of serial killer Peter Tobin has determined there were no precautions that could have been taken to prevent his death.

The inquiry heard last month that at the time of his death in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Tobin, 76, was suffering from undiagnosed cancer and pneumonia acquired in hospital.

Tobin was heard by prison guards "speaking incoherently" shortly before his death in hospital in October 2022, the FAI heard.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) welcomed the findings which determined prison staff acted appropriately and Tobin was receiving palliative care.

In his determination, Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss said Tobin was living with a number of serious health conditions after he suffered a fall in his prison cell in September 2022.

Ahead of surgery on his hip, fractured by the fall, testing found that Tobin had metastatic prostate cancer.

Tobin's crimes

Sheriff Auchincloss said: "Medical staff had expected Peter Tobin's death given a decline after his injury and surgery, combined with his general frailty.

"Prison staff dealt with the situation appropriately and he was given appropriate medical care in hospital."

A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death as "bronchial pneumonia in a man with a fractured right neck, generalised vascular disease and prostate cancer".

Tobin's crimes include the 2006 murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, whose body was hidden under St Patrick's Church in Glasgow where he worked as a handyman.

Then in November 2007, the remains of two teenagers who vanished in 1991 - Vicky Hamilton, 15, and Dinah McNicol, 18 - were found under the patio of Tobin's house in Margate, Kent.

A mandatory FAI was held into his death on September 17 this year, due to the death occurring in custody.

The purpose of an FAI is to establish the circumstances of the death and to consider what steps, if any, may be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances.

Procurator fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS, said: "We note and welcome the sheriff's determination."