Youth worker 'gut-punched' at news of teenager's suicide

A youth worker said he received "a casual response" from a prison warder after warning him a teenage inmate was prone to self-harming.

Stephen Cain said he felt "gut-punched" three days later when he was told that William Brown, 16, took his own life at Polmont YOI.

An inquiry is looking into whether the deaths of both William and Katie Allan, 21, could have been prevented.

Ms Allan took her own life in Polmont in 2018, four months before Mr Brown.

William Brown, who was also known as William Lindsay, was remanded in custody after being deemed a "potential risk to public safety" three days before his death in October 2018.

Mr Cain said he had been a support worker for William since he was 14.

He described him as "a very personable, very funny, very likeable, and very handsome young man".

But Mr Cain also said he was a "very troubled boy", who had been through a lot of trauma, going back to his childhood.

He told the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) he had a phone conversation with a Polmont warder the day after William was remanded by a sheriff in Glasgow over an allegation he had walked into a police station with a knife.

He said he mentioned William had mental health issues, was vulnerable and prone to self-harm.

Giving evidence by video link from Australia, where he now works, Mr Cain said: "I remember saying William might try to act the big man in a place like Polmont, but he's not.

"I pushed it and pushed it.

"I got a kind of casual response - not as flippant as "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," but as if they'd heard it all before, it was nothing new to them."

Mr Cain said he thought William should have been remanded to a secure children's facility, such as St Mary's Kenmure in Bishopbriggs, not to a jail, as it would have been "a nicer, more pleasant environment".

The inquiry, at Falkirk Sheriff Court, has heard there were no children's secure accommodation places available at the time, resulting in him being sent to Polmont.

William was accompanied by a fax from the procurator fiscal stating he was a suicide risk and a letter from Glasgow social work department expressing concerns.

Mr Cain said he was phoned by his on-call manager on 7 October 2018 and told William had been found dead that day.

He said: "I was totally gut-punched. William had a lot of people rooting for him and even though I had these concerns you never think that's going to happen."

The inquiry heard previously that between 2016 and 2018, William had been taken to hospital on at least 15 occasions due to suicide attempts and thoughts, excess drug use and fighting.

He was put on a 30-minute observation when he arrived at Polmont "for reassurance and safety".

The next day, a case conference was held with a mental health nurse and two prison officers, where William was assessed as "at no apparent risk of suicide" and was removed from 30-minute observations.

However, less than two hours later, he was referred to the mental health team by a social worker.

William was found dead in his cell at 07:40 on 7 October 2018, nearly 12 hours after last having contact with prison staff.

The inquiry continues at Falkirk Sheriff Court.