Father has nightmares over son's M9 crash death

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

A father whose son died after a crash on the M9 still has nightmares about the incident, an inquiry has been told.

John Yuill, 28 and his partner Lamara Bell, 25, died after their car crashed off the M9 near Stirling in 2015.

They lay undiscovered in the car for three days despite a member of public reporting the crash to police.

Police have admitted failures in its system contributed to the death of Ms Bell who survived the initial crash.

John Yuill was dead inside the car when it was discovered.

His father, Gordon Yuill told a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) his son was denied "dignity in death".

He told the court that he reported his son missing on the evening of Sunday 5 July 2015.

He said he had last seen his son the previous evening when he was leaving to go on a camping trip with his partner Lamara Bell and three others at Loch Earn.

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During the call, Mr Yuill asked if his son was in custody. He said there was a warrant out for his son's arrest as he had failed to attend a previous court hearing in relation to a minor breach of the peace.

At that point, the call handler said she would start a missing person report and took details. She asked Mr Yuill if it was very unexpected for his son to go missing.

He replied: "No, it's totally out of character. I usually see my son every day and he contacts me every day.

"I'm increasingly concerned he has had an accident on one of those roads up there."

He described his son as "very loving" and "hardworking", describing him as a "normal family man" who was very close to his mum.

Police near the scene of the 2015 crash

Following his call to the police, a missing person investigation was launched, while a similar investigation was under way for Lamara Bell.

The father said he sent a photo of a blue Renault Clio as well as a picture of Ms Bell to police the following afternoon to assist them.

Gavin Anderson KC, senior counsel to the inquiry, read a statement which Mr Yuill gave to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc), who were investigating the incident, in mid July 2015.

In it, he said: "I know John died quickly, however, he still lay there for three days. Lamara, to my mind, could have been saved if she had been found on Sunday July 5.

"I still have nightmares about it. I want answers about why this happened."

Mr Anderson said: "This was your position in July 2015, is that still your position today?" to which Mr Yuill replied: "Yes."

'Individual failure'

An apology from Sir Stephen House, former chief constable of Police Scotland, was read to the inquiry.It read: "Firstly we wish to apologise to the families of John Yuill and Lamara Bell and to the people of Scotland for an individual failure in our service."

He went on to say that he understood the concerns being raised surrounding the handling of the incident.He said that prior to 11:30 on 5 July a member of the public contacted police. The call was answered in six seconds and taken by an experienced officer and the relevant details were given.

"For reasons yet to be established this call was not entered on our police system," the statement said.He said: "Shortly before 10:00 on 8 July, a second call was made. It was answered, recorded and allocated to operating teams who located Mr Yuill and Ms Bell."

The FAI at Falkirk Sheriff Court is expected to last six weeks.