Sheriff criticises FAI system

Crown Office give insufficient priority to investigations, says Davidson

News, 23 July 2007

A sheriff has called for a change in the way sudden and unexplained deaths are investigated.

Sheriff Richard Davidson, who is based in Dundee, said in his report on a fatal accident inquiry that the Crown Office did not seem to give sufficient priority to investigating fatal accidents.

The sheriff heard the inquiry into the death of a Down's Syndrome man, Roddy Donnet. Mr Donnet died of pneumonia in 2003 and his family had to wait four years for the inquiry, which criticised NHS Tayside and Dundee City Council.

At present sudden, suspicious or unexplained deaths are investigated by the procurator fiscal in order to decide whether criminal proceedings should be brought or a fatal accident inquiry applied for. Sheriff Davidson called on the Scottish Parliament to consider giving the responsibility to a new agency solely dedicated to the investigation of sudden deaths.

The Scottish Executive is currently considering extending the jurisdiction of FAIs to cover deaths of domiciled Scots which occur abroad, but is not otherwise planning to review the FAI system.