Copyright dailyrecord
The family of death-in-custody victim Allan Marshall have blasted Scottish prison chiefs for halting the roll-out of “pain-free” restraint techniques at all jails. Allan was on remand at HMP Edinburgh in March 2015 when he was brutally restrained face down by 17 prison officers after a mental health episode. The 30-year-old, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, died after four days in a coma as a result of brain damage caused by oxygen starvation and cardiac arrest. Allan was on remand for unpaid fines and breach of the peace charges. The Scottish Prison Service piloted “non-pain-inducing control and restraint techniques” in three jails last year. But, despite reducing “violent incidents and floor restraints across all pilot sites”, its annual report reveals the roll-out has been derailed due to overcrowding and a lack of resources. Allan’s aunt, Sharon MacFadyen, said: “They blame overcrowding but they’ve known about overcrowding in prisons for years. "The techniques used on Allan were to deliberately inflict pain on prisoners and, if there is a pain-free alternative, why wouldn’t they use them? "The prison service has a duty of care to staff and prisoners and, if the pilot has proved successful… it should be -implemented as a priority across all prisons.” Allan was dragged naked and face down across a corridor during restraint, revealed in CCTV footage. At the Court of Session in -Edinburgh last month, SPS admitted a breach of human rights law by unlawfully causing his death. Yesterday in a vigil outside Bute House in Edinburgh, Allan’s relatives joined other -families whose loved ones died in state custody. The SPS said nine prisons are “now at red risk status, and this continues to place a strain on all areas of the organisation”. It added: “It has an increasingly destabilising effect on our establishments. We need to see a reduction in our population so we fully support people in our care, reduce their risk of reoffending, and help build the safer communities we want to see.”
