A Scottish court has been determining the level of damages which should be paid in compensation to the family of Allan Marshall who was unlawfully killed whilst on remand at HMP Edinburgh in 2015. His family have told the BBC that their decade-long fight against the system has been ‘never ending.’  This is the first time a court in the UK has been asked to determine the level of damages following a breach of the right to life in Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has admitted breaching Allan Marshall’s right to life over his death in custody at HMP Edinburgh where he was restrained by up to 17 prison officers during a mental health crisis. Allan suffered a cardiac arrest and later died in hospital. His cause of death was recorded as brain injury due to cardiac arrest during physical restraint.

A previous court hearing heard that the force used had been clearly excessive and that no force should have been necessary. It had been found that Allan Marshall was likely suffering from Excited Delirium Syndrome and there were many missed opportunities to seek help from healthcare staff. Despite CCTV evidence and admissions made during the Fatal Accident Injury (FAI), the family and campaigners say no prison officers were prosecuted. They have described the process of seeking justice as ‘torture’.

The family has since received an apology from the prison service, Crown Office and Police Scotland. This was the first time that all three of the parties were publicly held accountable for death in custody. The Crown Office had previously granted prison officers lifelong immunity from prosecution, a decision which campaigners described as ‘extraordinary’. The confirmation the family received from these admissions was a victory ‘not just for Allan but for every family who has lost someone in custody and been denied justice.’

Ministry of Justice figures for England and Wales show deaths in prison custody rose by 30% in the 12 months to September 2025.

In response to the high rate of deaths in custody, the director at INQUEST, Deborah Coles, has previously called for ‘an end to locking people up to die’ and has criticised the repeated failures to implement recommendations following deaths in custody.