M9 crash family criticises 'damning' police calls report

The family of Lamara Bell's five-year-old son Keiran have described a report of Police Scotland's call-handling processes as a "damning indictment".

Ms Bell, 25, was found critically injured in a car three days it crashed on the M9. She died later. Her partner John Yuill was found dead in the car.

Police admitted they had failed to investigate a call about the crash.

Kieran's father Lee Burt and grandfather James McMillan said the force was failing Scottish communities.

Weaknesses in Police Scotland's roll-out of its new national call-handling system were highlighted in an Inspector of Constabulary report.

Derek Penman said staffing levels at Bilston Glen - where the call regarding the M9 crash was received - were insufficient and had resulted in poor call-handling performance, although the force had made "considerable efforts to address this".

In a statement released through their solicitor Aamer Anwar, Mr Burt and Mr McMillan said: "Today's report delivers a damning indictment on Police Scotland's call handling processes, Lamara Bell was not an isolated incident, despite what they wanted everyone to believe.

"It is clear that Police Scotland was not ready for national changes in call handling but went ahead despite concerns for safety and introduced 'unacceptably high levels of pressure' on staff.

The crashed car was found off the M9 motorway on the outskirts of Stirling

"Of course human error is inevitable, but the fact that Police Scotland does not even have 'systematic processes for recording adverse incidents or near misses' suggests a dangerously cavalier approach to such incidents.

"Sadly it took Lamara's death to expose a systemic crisis at the heart of the call-handling system."

The statement added: "Police Scotland's leadership were in a desperate rush to scapegoat individual officers, but at the same time they were in denial about the 'low morale' and the immense pressures created for call handlers by centralisation, cutbacks and target times which ultimately created a potential for serious harm or the loss of life."

Police Scotland said the force would be implementing the recommendations of the report "through a detailed and comprehensive action plan".

Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick admitted there had been challenges with the new call-handling system but said progress was already being made on the issues highlighted.

'Misses his mum'

Speaking about the impact of Ms Bell's death on her son Keiran, the family said: "At the heart of this tragedy is Kieran who never stops speaking about his mum.

"Some mornings he will wake up a happy boy because he dreamt of Lamara, but it is heartbreaking when a little boy tells you he misses his mum and the sound of laughter changes to silence."

The family said they would try their best to fill Keiran's life with love but they would "never be able to fill the void left by Lamara".

They said "such a catastrophe should never happen again" and added that Police Scotland were "guilty of failing communities across Scotland".

They said: "Lives still remain at risk and if the authorities genuinely care about Kieran's loss and what happened to Lamara, then they must hold to account those in the leadership of Police Scotland who appeared to have had such a reckless disregard for public safety."

Ms Bell's brother Martin said the report highlighted that there was still a big problem within Police Scotland.

Mr Bell said he was not any closer to finding out why the police had not followed up a report saying that the car containing his sister had crashed down a motorway embankment.

He said: "Obviously we will have to wait for the Pirc (Police Investigations and Review Commissioner) investigation to get the answers that we need.

"We want to find out if the police had got there on the first day would the outcome had been different for my sister? I still think it would have been."