A fatal accident inquiry is to be held into the death of a suspected child abductor who was brutally beaten in a violent prison attack.
Darren Brownlie, 47, was fatally assaulted by three fellow inmates while on remand at HMP Low Moss, East Dunbartonshire, on 6 January 2020.
At the time, Mr Brownlie was awaiting trial after being accused of attempting to abduct a six-year-old boy.
During the killers’ sentencing later in 2020, the High Court in Glasgow heard how he was known to pass off a less potent drug in exchange for legal highs and had done so shortly before the lead up to the attack.
Killers Craig Derrick, Brian Laing and David Till pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.
Derrick was handed a six-year jail sentence, while Laing and Till were jailed for six years and nine months.
As Mr Brownlie was in legal custody and in the care of the state at the time of his death, a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is mandatory.
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The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has lodged a first notice to begin the court process, with a preliminary hearing to be held at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 5 November.
The FAI will determine Mr Brownlie’s cause of death; the circumstances in which it occurred; and to establish what steps, if any, could have been taken to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.
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COPFS anticipates that the FAI will focus on the “adequacy of the medical care provided to him post-assault, the provision of nursing staff within the prison and the training of nursing staff”.
It will also consider the processes and procedures in place surrounding the summoning of an ambulance to the prison and any associated delays.
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During the attackers’ sentencing hearing, Lord Matthews noted how it took more than four hours for an ambulance to arrive.
The judge stated: “I make no comment on these various circumstances.
“They will be the subject of a fatal accident inquiry in due course but I accept that, had it not been for the delay in receiving treatment, Mr Brownlie would have survived, death being the result of a gradual bleed from his spleen, which was ruptured.”
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Unlike criminal proceedings, FAIs are inquisitorial in nature and are used to establish facts rather than to apportion blame.
Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on deaths investigations for COPFS, said: “The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Darren Brownlie occurred whilst he was in legal custody and as such a fatal accident inquiry is mandatory.
“The lodging of the first notice enables FAI proceedings to commence under the direction of the sheriff.”
