First minister had 'no role' in Allan Marshall prison death case

A sheriff ruled Allan Marshall's death was "entirely preventable"

The first minister has said she played no part in attempting to stop a newspaper publishing video showing a prisoner being dragged through a corridor shortly before his death.

Nicola Sturgeon said the legal action over the death of Allan Marshall was started by the Scottish Prison Service.

Mr Marshall was restrained by staff at HMP Edinburgh and suffered a cardiac arrest during a lengthy struggle.

A sheriff has ruled that his death was "entirely preventable".

• Family want action over prison struggle death

The case, and attempts to prevent video of the incident being published, were raised by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard during first minister's questions.

Mr Leonard told the Scottish parliament that the Ms Sturgeon's government had been involved in "heavy-handed interference in the freedom of the press".

He claimed lawyers "went to court in the middle of the night seeking an interdict" to prevent the video being published by the Sunday Mail.

With members of Mr Marshall's family looking on from the public gallery at Holyrood, he added: "Let's be clear, Allan Marshall died following a shocking incident in prison service custody, the sheriff says his death was 'entirely preventable' and your government goes to court in the dead of night to keep this out of the public eye."

Mr Leonard went on to ask: "Does the first minister regret this heavy-handed interference in the freedom of the press, will she apologise to members of Allan Marshall's family, who are in the public gallery of the parliament today, and will the first minister agree to a full independent investigation into her government's actions, including how much money was wasted, the role of the justice secretary and indeed her own role in this?"

But the first minister insisted the legal action was not a political matter.

"This was a decision by the Scottish Prison Service to initiate court action," Ms Sturgeon told the Labour leader.

"The Scottish Prison Service later decided not to proceed with that action and I think that was the right decision."

She stressed she "had no role" in the legal proceedings.

Preventable death

Mr Marshall, of Carluke, South Lanarkshire, died during an incident at the Edinburgh prison in March 2015.

He had been dragged face down and feet first by prison officers.

Following a fatal accident inquiry a sheriff found that "the evidence which has been led in this inquiry amply demonstrates that Mr Marshall's death was entirely preventable".

Sheriff Gordon Liddle said there were "instances when better training of Scottish Prison Service staff could have made the difference".

Ms Sturgeon confirmed she had watched CCTV evidence of Mr Marshall being restrained and said any lessons that could be learned from the case would be.

She also offered her condolences to the dead man's family for their "grief and anguish".

The prison service is considering 13 recommendations made after the fatal accident inquiry.