Apology over Police Scotland's M9 crash death failures

Keith Brown said work had begun on fatal accident inquiry

Scotland's justice secretary has issued an apology over the "serious failures" in police call handling which contributed to a woman's death after a car crash on the M9 in 2015.

Keith Brown told the families of Lamara Bell and John Yuill that he was "deeply sorry" for what had happened.

Police Scotland has been fined £100,000 after admitting its failings.

It took officers three days to arrive at the scene after an initial call was not entered into the force's IT system.

By then, driver Mr Yuill had died and his girlfriend Ms Bell was seriously hurt. She later died in hospital.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told on Tuesday that the mother-of-two would probably have survived if she had been found sooner.

Lamara Bell and John Yuill were found inside their car after it crashed down an embankment off the M9

The justice secretary apologised to her family in a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.

Mr Brown also confirmed that the lord advocate had started work on a fatal accident inquiry into the tragedy.

He told MSPs: "Nothing I say here today in the chamber can adequately recognise the sense of grief and loss that the families have endured.

"But again I want to turn to the families of John and Lamara and say I am deeply sorry for what happened, I am deeply sorry for your loss."

The Scottish Conservatives' justice spokesman, Jamie Greene, said it had been an "utter tragedy" which had "laid bare some difficult truths for the government".

"It is clear that the centralisation of Police Scotland, and specifically its call-handling practices, undoubtedly led to a period of funding concerns, IT problems and operational failures which ultimately cost the lives of two innocent people," he said.

"The government cannot absolve itself of all responsibility, and only a fatal accident inquiry will unearth these failings."

On Tuesday, Police Scotland pled guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety Act.

It admitted failing to provide a reliable call-handling system between April 2013 and March 2016, with the result that on 5 July 2015 an officer at the Bilston Glen centre failed to record on an IT system a report that a car was at the bottom of an embankment off the M9 near Stirling.

That led to Ms Bell and her boyfriend Mr Yuill lying in the car for three days - a delay which the force admitted had "materially contributed" to Ms Bell's death in hospital on 12 July.

Ms Bell's mother Diane said it was a "huge relief" that Police Scotland had "finally admitted being at fault for Lamara's death".

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone issued an apology on Tuesday

Iain Livingstone, who became chief constable in 2018, issued an unreserved apology to the families after the court hearing.

In the early part of 2015, police control centres in Glenrothes and Stirling were closed and their work transferred to Bilston Glen.

A report later that year said there had been concerns about insufficient staffing, which had led to low levels of performance.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said he had warned First Minister Nicola Sturgeon about problems at the Bilston Glen call centre four months before the M9 tragedy.

He asked Mr Brown: "Will the cabinet secretary follow the dignified lead of the chief constable and accept that they got this police centralisation programme wrong?"

Mr Brown said he disagreed and supported the centralisation of the police force.

"I believe it leads to a better police force in Scotland," he said.

"I, of course, acknowledge in this case the tragic loss of life that's happened here, but I believe it's a fundamentally important public service reform."