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| Scottish police under fire again after missing woman lead was missed | Scottish police under fire again after missing woman lead was missed |
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| The embattled Scottish police force is facing further criticism after it emerged that information about a possible sighting of a missing 88-year-old woman was not passed on to officers. | The embattled Scottish police force is facing further criticism after it emerged that information about a possible sighting of a missing 88-year-old woman was not passed on to officers. |
| Police Scotland apologised on Thursday to the family of Janet McKay, who suffered from dementia, after a body believed to be that of the missing woman was discovered in Clydebank, eight days after she was seen leaving her home in Knightswood, a suburb of Glasgow. | Police Scotland apologised on Thursday to the family of Janet McKay, who suffered from dementia, after a body believed to be that of the missing woman was discovered in Clydebank, eight days after she was seen leaving her home in Knightswood, a suburb of Glasgow. |
| Related: Police apologise for ignoring lead after woman, 88, went missing | Related: Police apologise for ignoring lead after woman, 88, went missing |
| A member of the public informed police last Friday of a possible sighting of McKay, but the information was not passed to call-handling centres or to the inquiry team. | |
| Only after further information about the sighting was passed to the inquiry team on Tuesday was it established that the last sighting of McKay was on CCTV as she got off a bus in Clydebank, a few miles further west of her home, on the day she went missing. The issue has now been referred to the police investigation and review commissioner. | |
| The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Willie Rennie, said: “What I’m really interested in is how the information flows through Police Scotland, so we are reassured this is a rare error rather than a system problem. | The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Willie Rennie, said: “What I’m really interested in is how the information flows through Police Scotland, so we are reassured this is a rare error rather than a system problem. |
| “I think it’s right to have this independent inquiry to get to the bottom of what’s happened so that we don’t think this a wider systemic problem if it’s not.” | “I think it’s right to have this independent inquiry to get to the bottom of what’s happened so that we don’t think this a wider systemic problem if it’s not.” |
| The head of Police Scotland, Stephen House, announced last month that he would step down early after growing calls for him to to resign following a series of policing failures and controversies over civil liberties under his leadership. | The head of Police Scotland, Stephen House, announced last month that he would step down early after growing calls for him to to resign following a series of policing failures and controversies over civil liberties under his leadership. |
| These included the death in custody of Sierra Leonean man Shekhu Bayoh, and officers’ failure to respond to a report of a crash on the M9 that left a dying woman stranded for three days next to the body of her dead boyfriend. There have also been continuing rows over Police Scotland’s use of stop-and-search powers and armed police patrols. | |
| Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Rennie suggested that another inquiry by PIRC – which has lately drawn questions about its independence – might not be sufficient. “What we’ve seen following the M9 crash is a PIRC inquiry there, which has not reported yet, but also the inspector of constabulary has conducted a review into the call handling system. | |
| “It may be that the inspector would like to look at this particular case as well to see if there is a wider information handling, not call handling but information handling, issue within the police.” | “It may be that the inspector would like to look at this particular case as well to see if there is a wider information handling, not call handling but information handling, issue within the police.” |
| The Scottish government’s justice secretary, Michael Mathieson, insisted that there would be a “thorough and timely” investigation. | |
| Asked on the same programme whether there was a pattern emerging of failures in information handling following the M9 crash, he added: “It’s important to recognise that the police statement issued last night was very clear that this was not relating to information passed to a call centre, but rather to information that was not passed to a call centre in the first place. When it eventually was passed to a call centre it was actioned immediately by the investigation team.” | |
| The general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, Calum Steele, immediately denied that the latest error was evidence of wider organisational problems within Police Scotland. | |
| Divisional commander Ch Supt Andy Bates said: “[On Thursday morning], officers discovered the body of a woman in the Clydebank area. Formal identification has yet to take place, but we believe it to be Janet McKay, who was reported missing last week. Janet’s family has been informed. Since she was reported missing last Wednesday, an extensive investigation and search has been conducted by my officers throughout the local area. | Divisional commander Ch Supt Andy Bates said: “[On Thursday morning], officers discovered the body of a woman in the Clydebank area. Formal identification has yet to take place, but we believe it to be Janet McKay, who was reported missing last week. Janet’s family has been informed. Since she was reported missing last Wednesday, an extensive investigation and search has been conducted by my officers throughout the local area. |
| “On Friday evening, as part of our inquiries, a member of the public provided us with information of a possible sighting of the missing person. This information was not passed to the call-handling centres, nor was it passed to the inquiry team. On Tuesday, further information about this potential sighting was received through the call-handling centre, who immediately passed it to the inquiry team. Following further extensive inquiry, a body was discovered. We have kept Janet’s family fully informed.” | “On Friday evening, as part of our inquiries, a member of the public provided us with information of a possible sighting of the missing person. This information was not passed to the call-handling centres, nor was it passed to the inquiry team. On Tuesday, further information about this potential sighting was received through the call-handling centre, who immediately passed it to the inquiry team. Following further extensive inquiry, a body was discovered. We have kept Janet’s family fully informed.” |
| On Monday, McKay’s daughter Rhona Walters issued an emotional plea for information about her mother’s whereabouts, saying: “It’s everybody’s nightmare and we are just desperate to have mum home. I can’t believe someone can walk out their front door and disappear.” | On Monday, McKay’s daughter Rhona Walters issued an emotional plea for information about her mother’s whereabouts, saying: “It’s everybody’s nightmare and we are just desperate to have mum home. I can’t believe someone can walk out their front door and disappear.” |
| Walters, who lives in South Lanarkshire, added that she feared her mother, who had lived in Knightswood for more than 30 years, may have been trying to find her childhood home. | Walters, who lives in South Lanarkshire, added that she feared her mother, who had lived in Knightswood for more than 30 years, may have been trying to find her childhood home. |
| Walters said: “Mum sometimes speaks about wanting to go home and still talks about her parents. It’s as if she can be in a different era and not aware that she is 88 years old. We think she may have been trying to find a previous home, maybe in St Vincent Street, as that is where she grew up.” | Walters said: “Mum sometimes speaks about wanting to go home and still talks about her parents. It’s as if she can be in a different era and not aware that she is 88 years old. We think she may have been trying to find a previous home, maybe in St Vincent Street, as that is where she grew up.” |
| She also revealed that her mother had recently gone missing in similar circumstances, but a concerned neighbour saw her boarding a bus and stopped her before she left the area. | She also revealed that her mother had recently gone missing in similar circumstances, but a concerned neighbour saw her boarding a bus and stopped her before she left the area. |