Inquiry Under The Fatal Accidents And Inquiries (scotland) Act 1976 Into The Death Of George Paul Rooney Riddell
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Sheriff I.H.L. Miller |
| Court | Fatal Accident Determinations (Scotland - United Kingdom) |
| Docket Number | B2240/10 |
| Date | 11 April 2014 |
| Published date | 25 April 2014 |
SHERIFFDOM OF GLASGOW AND STRATHKELVIN AT GLASGOW
| B2240/10 INQUIRY HELD UNDER THE FATAL ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS INQUIRY (SCOTLAND) ACT 1976, SECTION 1(1)(a)(ii) | DETERMINATION by IAN HARPER LAWSON MILLER, Esquire, Advocate, Sheriff of the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin following a Fatal Accident Inquiry held at Glasgow on 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 October and 13 December all days of 2011, and on 19, 20, 21 and 22 March, 25, 26, 27 and 28 September 2012, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 November and 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 December all days of 2012 and 15 and 16 April and 16 and 17 September all days of 2013 into the death of GEORGE PAUL ROONEY RIDDELL |
GLASGOW, 11 April 2014.
The sheriff, having resumed consideration of the application, the evidence presented, the productions and labels used in evidence and the submissions made,
FINDS AND DETERMINES:
(1) In terms of section 6(1)(a) of the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976, that George Paul Rooney Riddell, whose date of birth was 30 June 1990, and who resided latterly at 34A Pendeen Road, Glasgow died on 15 September 2006 at 01.53 hours within the Royal Infirmary, Castle Street, Glasgow;
(2) In terms of section 6(1)(b) of the said Act, that the cause of his death was hypoxic brain damage due to cardiac arrest due to cocaine intoxication;
(3) In terms of section 6(1)(c) of the said Act, that there were no reasonable precautions whereby his death might have been avoided;
(4) In terms of section 6(1)(d) of the said Act, that there were no defects in any system of working which contributed to his death; and
(5) In terms of section 6(1)(e) of the said Act, that there were and are no other facts which are relevant to the circumstances of his death.
NOTE/
NOTE
| Part One | The inquiry in context | Paragraphs [1] to [25] |
| Part Two | The issues raised by the parties | Paragraphs [26] to [30] |
| Part Three | The function and purpose of a fatal accident inquiry | Paragraphs [31] to [37] |
| Part Four | The relevant uncontested facts | Paragraphs [38] to [98] |
| Part Five | The relevant contested facts analysed | Paragraphs [99] to [173] |
| Part Six Part Seven | The medical facts and their medical consequences for George The composition of my determination under section 6(1) of the Act | Paragraphs [174] to [190] Paragraphs [191] to [212] |
Part One
The inquiry in context
Introduction
[1] This fatal accident inquiry ("the Inquiry") has been convened to inquire into the circumstances of the death of George Paul Rooney Riddell ("George") which occurred on 15 September 2006 within the Royal Infirmary, Castle Street, Glasgow. The Crown have requested the Inquiry under section 1(1)(a)(ii) of the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 ("the Act") because at the time of his death he was in the legal custody of the then Strathclyde Police and therefore there has to be such an inquiry.
The application
[2] The Crown, in the name of the Procurator Fiscal for the District of Glasgow and Strathkelvin at Glasgow, in due course and over four years after George's death, made application to this Court to hold an inquiry under the Act into the circumstances of his death. In it the Crown, as required, gave a brief narration of the circumstances of his death. They did so in the following terms:
"From information received by the Applicant it appears that GEORGE PAUL ROONEY RIDDELL, born 30 June 1990, formerly residing at 34A Pendeen Road, Glasgow was detained in terms of Section 14 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 on suspicion of theft at Barlanark Road, Glasgow on 8 September 2006 at approximately 1500 hours. He was given a cursory search. Nothing was found. He was transported to the police office, Glasgow in a marked police van. During the course of the journey to the police office, he consumed a quantity of white powder, later analysed and identified as cocaine. The said George Paul Rooney Riddell arrived at the police office at approximately 1610 hours. He was processed at 1620 hours. He was asked by a police officer if he had taken drugs. He advised a police officer that he had taken cocaine five minutes previously. At 1632 he became unwell. An ambulance was requested. The ambulance arrived at approximately 1724 hours and transferred him to the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. He was in cardiac arrest. He was treated at the Royal Infirmary until 13 September 2006 when life support was withdrawn. He died on 15 September 2006 at 0125 hours at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow."
The Crown stated that the cause of death was hypoxic brain damage due to cardiac arrest due to cocaine intoxication. This adopted the conclusions of the report dated 28 November 2006 of the post-mortem examination of George carried out on 18 September 2006.
The persons represented at the Inquiry
[3] Other than the Crown the persons represented at the Inquiry and who had an interest in it were: Mr George Rooney, George's father; Mrs Mary Riddell, his maternal grandmother; the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police; former Police Sergeant James Campbell; Police Constable Craig Beattie; Police Constable Stuart Morrison; former Police Constable Kenneth Sewell; Police Constable Paul Wilson; and Doctor Andrew McCall.
[4] The Crown were represented by Miss McCaffer, senior procurator fiscal depute, George's father by Mr Munro, solicitor, his grandmother by Miss McNeill, solicitor, the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police by Miss Black, solicitor, James Campbell and Police Constables Beattie, Morrison and Wilson by Mr Gillies, solicitor, Kenneth Sewell by Mr Nimmo, solicitor, and Doctor Andrew McColl by Mr Stewart, solicitor and, briefly in his unavoidable absence, Mrs Donald, solicitor.
The witnesses who gave evidence to the Inquiry
[5] The Crown alone led the evidence of witnesses. There were nineteen. In the order in which they gave their evidence they were: Mrs Mary Riddell, Mr Kenneth McAskill, Mr David Gray, Mr Antony Kelly, Mr Ronald McGuiness, Mr Ewan Fitzpatrick, Doctor Andrew McColl, Doctor Richard Stevenson, Mr Kenneth Sewell, Police Constable Paul Wilson, Police Constable Craig Beattie, Ms Lindsey Dempsey, Police Constable Stuart Morrison, Detective Sergeant Michael Miller, Mr James Campbell, Doctor Harry Thanacoody, Mr Angus McIntosh, Mr Grant Sinnerton and Mr Alexander Semple.
The presentation of the Inquiry
[6] The Inquiry started on 24 October 2011 and ended with submissions on 17 September 2013. For unavoidable reasons the Inquiry had to be conducted over eight tranches of days allocated as best and as expeditiously as could be achieved but sometimes there were several months between each.
[7] During the course of the Inquiry the parties presented three Joint Minutes of Agreement signed on behalf of the Crown and all represented parties. The majority of the first and second and all of the third agreed the authenticity of a significant number of the Crown productions whose terms were accepted by all signatories as true and accurate and, where appropriate, that some of them were in force at all material times. That left it to the parties to make such use of those documents as they wished in order to bring them to the attention of the Inquiry and within its ambit. In addition the first agreed the provenance of the majority of the Crown labels, certain facts about the detention of George, his subsequent treatment at hospital and the cause of his death as determined at post mortem, while the second added more aspects of his care at hospital and the results of certain tests carried out on him.
[8] The last witness gave his evidence on 16 April 2013. Long before then the Crown and all representatives had indicated their wish to present their submissions in writing at the hearing on evidence. They had mooted that the Crown prepare their submissions including proposed findings in fact which all would then use as the basis of their written submissions and would add the particular matters on which they wished to found in so far as they were either different from or absent from what the Crown wished to submit. That is what happened. The written submissions were extensive. A copy of them is lodged in process. At the hearing each representative took the opportunity to comment to a greater or lesser extent on the written submissions of one or more of the other represented parties. I have précised them and placed a copy of that in process.
What each witness spoke to in evidence
[9] Mrs Mary Riddell. She is George's maternal grandmother with whom he had lived throughout his life except for a period in excess of two years from the ages of just short of twelve to fourteen. She explained his upbringing and character, his repeated involvement with the police and as a consequence with the Children's Panel, his recurrent use of cannabis since about the age of thirteen, what she knew of his habits in the months leading up to his death, what she was aware of what he did on 8 September 2006 and that she had identified his body after his death.
[10] Mr Kenneth McAskill, Mr David Gray and Mr Antony Kelly. They were all friends of George. On 8 September 2006 they were aged 15 years, 15 years and 12 years respectively. Each gave evidence about similar matters: his relationship with George, what he understood of George's involvement with controlled substances, what happened to them all at Barlanark Road, what he knew of what George did in the van while it was taking them to the police station and what he knew of George's condition once placed in a cell there.
[11] Ms Lindsey Dempsey. She had been a friend of George since primary school days and had been his girlfriend until about three weeks before his death. She spoke principally about George's background and what she knew of his involvement with controlled drugs with particular reference to the weeks before 8 September 2006.
[12] Mr Kenneth Sewell. He was at the material time a...
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