Fatal Accident Inquiry finds 24-year-old HMP Edinburgh prisoner's death was 'self-inflicted'

Connor Morrison died at HMP Edinburgh at some point between 8.30pm on April 19 and 7.30am April 20. A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into his death concluded that his death was ‘self-inflicted and was not the result of an accident’.

Morrison had been convicted of threatening and abusive behaviour, assault and breach of bail in March 2022, and had been sentenced to 441 days in prison in March 2022.

The Crown had recommended that double bunk beds be removed from HMP Edinburgh by the Scottish Prison Service and that no prisoner should be accommodated alone in HMP Edinburgh within a cell with bunk beds.

This was in response to the recommendations made following the FAI into the deaths of Katie Allan and William Brown at HMP & YOI Polmont in 2018.

The Summary Sheriff Francis Gill said: “The Crown’s submission is that the SPS had been aware since at least 2018 of the general risk posed by a single prisoner being accommodated on their own in a cell with bunk beds. Therefore, Mr Morrison should not have been accommodated on his own in cell 2/22 because it had bunk beds.”

The Crown’s suggestion was deemed ‘not feasible’ at HMP Edinburgh.

A fatal accident inquiry into the death of a 24-year-old prisoner at HMP Edinburgh has found

The FAI also heard that it took ten minutes for paramedics to get through security at the prison. However, it was stated that “there was no evidence to suggest that there was any undue delay in the paramedic reaching Mr Morrison’s cell or that the response time contributed to his death.”

Further evidence was heard regarding the carrying of ligature cutters by staff in HMP Edinburgh. However, it was found that there was ‘no evidence that this not being the case had any impact on Mr Morrison’s death’.

The purpose of an inquiry is to establish the circumstances of the death and to consider what steps, if any, may be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances.

Unlike a criminal trial, a FAI seeks to establish the facts surrounding the death and is not a hearing which apportions blame.

The Procurator Fiscal, who acts in the public interest in these inquiries, presented evidence on the facts and circumstances of Morrison's death.

Following the publication of the determination, Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS said: “We note the Sheriff’s determination.

“The Procurator Fiscal ensured that the full facts and circumstances of Mr Morrison’s death were presented in evidence at the mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiry. "