New Police Scotland inquiry call after OAP’s death

Scottish Labour justice spokesman Graeme Pearson. Picture: David Moir

POLICE Scotland is facing renewed pressure after the death of an elderly woman who was stranded in her flat with her husband’s body.

Elizabeth Iggulden, 89, died in hospital on Friday, five days after she was found collapsed beside the body of her husband Douglas at their home in Adelphi Place, Edinburgh.

Police received a call last Saturday from a concerned relative who had not heard from the couple for several days. However, officers did not force entry until the following afternoon.

A probe has already been launched into the police response to the initial call.

A local newsagent said he had not seen Mr Iggulden, 88, who was a daily visitor to his shop, for “three or four days” – prompting concerns about how long he had been dead in his flat while his wheelchair-bound wife was unable to seek help.

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) is investigating the case, the latest in a string of controversies for the national force, including the M9 tragedy in which officers failed to respond to reports of a car crash for three days. Lamara Bell lay critically injured in the car beside her dead boyfriend, John Yuill, and later died in hospital.

Another inquiry has been launched into the missing persons investigation of dementia sufferer Janet McKay, 88, who was missing for eight days before her remains were found in Clydebank last month. A junior officer weas told of a sighting but did not pass on the information.

Scottish Labour justice spokesman Graeme Pearson has called for the Scottish Police Authority to hold a separate inquiry. He said: “It’s their duty to take interest in incidents such as this. Much will depend on the nature of the information that was passed to the police initially.

“This series of embarassing incidents and controversial service deliveries indicate that something at the heart of the service is wrong.”