Fatal accident inquiry to be held after death of elderly prisoner

William Tucker died while receiving palliative care at HMP Low Moss in East Dunbartonshire on October 5 2022.

Fatal accident inquiry to be held after death of elderly prisoner in East Dunbartonshire SNS Group

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) will be held into the death of a 77-year-old prisoner.

William Tucker was at HMP Low Moss in East Dunbartonshire before his death on October 5 2022.

He had been receiving palliative care in custody.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said it has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a mandatory FAI.

Inquiries into deaths while in custody are mandatory under the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths (Scotland) Act 2016.

A preliminary hearing has been set for March 11 at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Tucker was jailed in 2019 for the rape and sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl in Glasgow, Fife and Argyll between 2008 and 2012.

The FAI determines the cause of death, the circumstances in which the death occurred and to establish what, if any, reasonable precautions could have been taken.

Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on death investigations for the COPFS, said: “The death of William Tucker occurred while 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.”

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