A grieving mum has received a face-to-face apology for the Crown Office’s poor handling of its investigation into her son’s untimely death in police custody.
The Crown Office wasted almost two out of around five years doing nothing before referring Warren Fenty’s case to a court nearly six years after he died on June 29 2014.
Police had earlier arrested the 20-year-old hospital patient when he ignored medical advice and discharged himself from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after a drug overdose.
Almost 10 years on, a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) finally concluded that the Kittybrewster jail cell tragedy was “likely” avoidable had it not been for “institutional failures” by Police Scotland.
On Monday, the day before what would have been Warren’s 30th birthday, his mum Sharon Fenty, 54, met with Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, the boss of the Scottish Fatalities Investigations Unit.
‘The word sorry doesn’t mean anything to me 10 years later’
“He apologised a few times for the delays leading up to the FAI,” Mrs Fenty told The Press and Journal, adding: “He was really nice.”
A Crown official later confirmed that explanations for the three-year gap of inactivity had been provided to the grieving mother.
Mrs Fenty explained: “I was told that somebody leading the enquiries died during the early stages of the investigation.”
However, Mrs Fenty said she left the meeting with more questions than answers, adding: “The word sorry doesn’t mean anything to me 10 years later.
“I’ve still got questions. I didn’t feel that all of them were answered.
“The explanations for the delays were not good enough. No one would accept having to wait 10 years for answers about their son’s death – that’s inhumane.
“My opinion is that investigations shouldn’t take longer than a year or less.
‘COPFS deeply regret the time taken to conclude our investigation’
The meeting with Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), took place ahead of Saturday’s 10th anniversary of Warren Fenty’s death.
A statement was released following the informal gathering in which Mr Shanks said he was grateful for Sharon’s time.
He said: “I would like to thank Sharon Fenty for meeting with me and for sharing her experiences.
“COPFS deeply regret the time taken to conclude our investigation into Mr Fenty’s death and we have previously apologised to his family for not meeting the standards expected.
“We understand the impact that waiting for investigations to conclude has on families and I have repeated that apology again.
“I explained some of the improvements that have been made to the investigation of deaths in custody and the further changes we plan to make.
“We are committed to improving our engagement with families. This includes providing families with information at the earliest possible stage to allow them to fully participate in the investigation process.”
FAI took 12 days to hear evidence but over two years to
The Aberdeen Sheriff Court inquiry into Warren Fenty’s death became Scotland’s longest-ever FAI.
A 39-page report summarised the evidence heard from 19 witnesses over 12 days.
However, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) took more than two years to release its conclusions after five publication deadlines were missed by two sheriffs.
He took over the beleaguered FAI before it was revealed that evidence was missing and copies could not be accessed from a memory stick due to IT issues.
The sheriff principal, the man responsible for Grampian’s sheriff courts, missed a fifth deadline to publish his determination as he prepared to go on holiday abroad for three weeks.
When the report was finally published last month – 3,603 days after Warren Fenty died alone and unnoticed – Sheriff Principal Pyle stated: “The investigation of Mr Fenty’s death has taken far too long.”
He also noted that the decade of delay had “added a considerable burden to the grief” suffered by Sharon Fenty.
Read more:
- Aberdeen mum to quiz boss of controversial investigative unit that delayed inquiry into son’s police custody death
- Police criticised as sheriff rules Aberdeen man’s death in custody ‘likely’ avoidable
- The many twists, turns and tears in Scotland’s longest-ever police custody death inquiry
- Aberdeen mum claims son’s police custody death inquiry fails to deliver closure or justice
- Comment – Justice system guilty of making Warren Fenty’s mother suffer for a decade
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