Grampian’s top sheriff only became aware of the “distressing” delays that have plagued a Fatal Accident Inquiry after he was told that The Press and Journal was reporting on the case.
Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle swiftly removed Sheriff Morag McLaughlin from her Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into Warren Fenty’s drug overdose death after learning of the repeated missed deadlines.
He was forced to act after an official at the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) telephoned him to ask if he’d seen The P&J’s series of articles revealing McLaughlin had missed four deadlines to publish her findings.
On Friday January 12 he announced that he was taking charge of the inquiry as Sheriff McLaughlin was “no longer able to produce the determination” due to “personal health reasons”.
Warren, 20, lost his life more than nine-and-a-half years ago at Kittybrewster police station, on June 29 2014, but his grieving mum Sharon is still waiting for answers almost a decade later.
Last week, Sharon met with Sheriff Principal Pyle, who held her hand as he apologised for the distressing way in which the court service had handled her son’s FAI.
Emergency hearing to determine FAI’s future
The senior justice figure also revealed that he wants to finish Sheriff McLaughlin’s long overdue work without holding a fresh inquiry and instead will rely on audio recordings of the evidence already given during previous proceedings.
Sheriff Principal Pyle also plans to schedule an emergency within the next fortnight to announce his plans to lawyers representing Sharon Fenty, Police Scotland and NHS Grampian.
He expects to publish his conclusions – known as the determination – within four weeks of that emergency hearing.
Speaking after the meeting, Sharon praised Sheriff Principal Pyle’s intervention.
“He sounded sincere about getting things done,” she said, adding: “I’m putting my trust in him that he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do.
“But if that doesn’t happen, then I’m not going to be happy. I feel that I can trust him at the minute, but I hope he doesn’t give me a reason not to.”
Aberdeen’s top sheriff apologises to Warren Fenty’s mum after inquiry into her son’s police custody death is bungled
The SCTS declined our request for an interview with Sheriff Principal Pyle.
But our reporter approached him as he was leaving Aberdeen Sheriff Court after meeting Sharon.
Sheriff Principal Pyle appeared reluctant to speak, but described the meeting as “very positive” and said a press officer would soon be releasing a statement.
A spokesman for the Judicial Office for Scotland said: “Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle met Sharon Fenty to discuss the delay and its consequences.
“The Sheriff Principal understands the distress delays have caused and wanted to apologise to her in person.
“He repeated his assurance that the inquiry will now be under his sole control and that he is seeking to fix a hearing for participants to discuss the best way forward, as soon as practically possible.”
Warren Fenty’s mum Sharon gets answers after questioning delays to report about son’s police custody death
During the meeting between Sharon Fenty and the Sheriff Principal, it was revealed why Mr Pyle had, at first, failed to become aware of the poor progress of the Warren Fenty FAI.
The Sheriff Principal admitted that a list of outstanding cases that he uses to monitor their progress, and which helps him to identify delays, did not include FAIs.
“I was quite shocked to hear that because that’s a serious oversight,” Sharon said.
“I would have thought FAIs would be on the list because those cases should matter as much as the others – they’re about people losing their lives and relatives wanting to know why.
“I’ve lost my son and I want answers but it’s taken nearly 10 years just to get here.”
At 7.04am on June 29 2014, Warren was discovered unresponsive in cell 28 at Kittybrewster custody centre, where he was later declared dead by paramedics at 7.25am.
He died in his sleep from methadone intoxication just hours after being locked up, following treatment for a drug overdose in the high-dependency unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI).
The day before, Warren had prematurely discharged himself from ARI – against doctors’ advice – and then police officers detained him in connection with potential drug offences.
He’d already received the intravenous drug Naloxone to counteract the effects of an overdose and, at the time of his detention, the young man was on suicide watch.
But it emerged during evidence heard by his FAI that, although police officers were required to visit the “high-risk” prisoner’s cell every 30 minutes, three checks weren’t made over a one hour and 45 minute period.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was also told that other checks were “not of a satisfactory standard” – according to Inspector Mark Flemming, a senior police officer who later reviewed the events leading up to the detainee’s passing.
Insp Flemming also claimed there had been a “communication breakdown” between NHS Grampian and Police Scotland during the handover of Warren.
And the inspector spoke of a “significant gap” in information shared between those who came into contact with the deceased.
Warren Fenty’s custody death at Kittybrewster police station is Scotland’s longest-ever ongoing FAI
The Warren Fenty FAI last took evidence in February 2022 followed by final submissions from participants in May 2022.
Today, it is 3,501 days since Warren died in a cell at Police Scotland’s then-new state-of-the-art Aberdeen custody suite.
The case remains Scotland’s longest-ever ongoing FAI.
READ MORE: Sheriff removed from police custody death inquiry after extreme delays publishing overdue findings
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