Teenager dies in custody at Polmont Young Offenders Institution

A 19-year-old man has died at a young offenders institution that was heavily criticised last year after the deaths of two other young people there. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) confirmed the teenager died at Polmont Young Offenders Institution on Sunday. It is understood the man's death is not being treated as suspicious, and that he had been held in the protection wing for a reason unrelated to the offence he was jailed for. Last year, a sheriff ruled the deaths of Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, could have been avoided but for a "catalogue of failures" in the system. Katie and William took their own lives in separate incidents at Polmont in 2018. At the conclusion of a joint fatal accident inquiry Sheriff Simon Collins also found that reasonable precautions could have been taken to avoid their deaths. He made 25 recommendations, including for the SPS to make definite and practical steps to make cells safer. Sheriff Collins said William's death resulted from a catalogue of individual and collective failures by the SPS and healthcare staff at Polmont. He concluded "almost all of those who interacted with him were at fault to some extent." The sheriff also said a reason

Mar 11, 2026 → Mar 11, 2026