Company and health board admit criminal charges after prisoner’s Covid death
Case believed to be first prosecution of its kind in Scotland, after 6,000 deaths coronavirus-related deaths investigated
A company which runs a private prison and a health board have admitted criminal charges following the death of a prisoner who contracted Covid-19.
The case is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland, after the Crown Office investigated around 6,000 deaths related to coronavirus.
Calum Inglis, 34, was serving a short sentence in HMP Addiewell when he tested positive for Covid-19 on October 12 2021.
He was asthmatic and unvaccinated, and died on October 24 that year in the West Lothian prison run by Sodexo on behalf of the Scottish Prison Service, after his health deteriorated.
During the 12-day period, he was not seen by a nurse, and reported being breathless and coughing up significant amounts of blood, lawyers for his family have claimed.
It is alleged that in the last four days of his life, he repeatedly requested medical attention via his cell intercom, to be promised by the prison officers that someone would see him in the morning – but nobody came.
On October 24 2021, he was found dead in his cell.
His family’s solicitor Aamer Anwar has previously described his death as “agonising”.
Last year, Scotland’s top law officer instructed the private prosecution of HMP Addiewell in relation to the case.
On Friday, Sodexo and Lothian Health Board admitted criminal charges of failing to ensure they had adhered to their duties under health and safety legislation.
The case was heard at Edinburgh Sheriff Court before Sheriff Julius Komorowski.
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