M9 crash deaths: Previous warning of staff shortages

Lamara Bell was in the car for three days after it crashed with her partner John Yuill behind the wheel

The justice secretary and a senior police officer were warned of "critical" staff shortages at a call centre months before a deadly crash on the M9, a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) has heard.

The warning came just three months before the crash.

A mistake meant John Yuill, 28, and Lamara Bell, 25, lay undiscovered for three days.

Their car came off the road near Stirling in 2015.

It took officers three days to visit the scene of the crash after the accident was reported by a farmer.

The inquiry heard from retired Assistant Chief Constable Val Thomson that her time as a divisional commander between April 2013 and December 2014 had included the closure of former control rooms such as Stirling and Glenrothes.

'Insufficient staff numbers'

The changes followed the merger of Scotland's eight former police forces into Police Scotland. The force created a new virtual system based at larger centres such as the one at Bilston Glen, Midlothian, where the 101 call from the farmer was received.

Ms Thomson, 56, said that after being away for three months on a senior command course, she was promoted to ACC and took up her post on 6 April 2015.

She told the inquiry at Falkirk Sheriff Court that it was immediately clear to her that there were "insufficient staff numbers at the Bilston Glen centre to deal with the demand being received there".

An analysis of the risk of resources not meeting demand was scored "very high". She added that she had received repeated phone calls from officers warning of problems at Bilston Glen.

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She said: "The issues were there were insufficient staff to cover the extra work that had come from Stirling, and also there were problems with new staff not understanding the Bilston systems and trying to get everything to work well together."

She said that within days of her promotion, she was advised by a chief superintendent the situation was "critical and required immediate action to address the issue."

Ex-ACC Thomson said she immediately informed Sir Stephen House, who was chief constable at the time. He "made it clear it was the single most important force priority," she said.

Over the following days she briefed all the board members of the Scottish Police Authority and the then Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson.

A briefing paper prepared for Sir Stephen and Mr Matheson on 23 April 2015 warned: "Bilston Glen has struggled to meet the call demand with 'daily spike demands' causing members of the public to wait for unacceptable periods of time with increased instances of calls being dropped."

Staff morale

A meeting of senior management was then told of the problems and the effects they were having on staff morale.

The inquiry has already heard that the police officer who took the farmer's 101 call at 11:29 hours on 15 July 2015, Sgt Brian Henry, was working an overtime shift.

But he did not create an entry on the "Storm" command and control system in respect of the call. This left the area control rooms unaware of the incident.

Police, fire and ambulance were sent to the scene three days later after a second person reported seeing the crashed car.

John Yuill was already dead, and Lamara Bell had a significant head injury, was partially conscious and "writhing in pain". She was flown to hospital in Glasgow where she died on 12 July.

The inquiry, before Sheriff James Williamson, continues.