William Brown was only 16 years old, and had never been convicted of a crime, yet he tragically died by suicide while in Polmont Young Offenders Institution in Scotland in October 2018. His life had been full of instability as he lived under social care for the majority of his life, with his father admitting to issues with alcohol and separating from his mother in 2002. William spent time in 27 different social work placements, including foster care and secure children’s units.
On 3 October 2018, William was arrested after walking into a police station in Glasgow while carrying a knife, which was seen as a cry for help. After his arrest, he was sent to Polmont and was found dead just 48 hours later, despite being only 16 – and therefore legally a child.
William’s life and tragic end went largely unnoticed until a fatal accident inquiry began in January investigating his death and that of Katie Allan, 21, who also took her own life at Polmont four months before William arrived. Katie had been sentenced to 16 months in prison for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving over the alcohol limit, but her treatment in prison led to her parents campaigning for a fatal accident inquiry into her death.
William came from a very different background from Katie and little is known about him. His family, devastated by his death, have been supported by those who knew him best – his social workers, who praised him as bright, funny, and someone with bags of potential. The loss of William has had a devastating impact on those who had the joy of spending time with him.
The Allan family hopes that through their campaigning and others’ campaigning, sentencing guidelines will prevent young people like William or Katie from ending up in young offenders’ institutions. The Crown has already stated that there is enough evidence to prosecute the prison under health and safety legislation, but the Scottish Prison Service has Crown immunity. Despite multiple fatal accident inquiries into deaths at Polmont, nothing has yet changed
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