On September 26, 2025, a decade-long fight for justice reached a somber milestone in Edinburgh’s Court of Session. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS), Police Scotland, and the Crown Office all made unprecedented public admissions regarding the 2015 death of Allan Marshall, a 30-year-old father of two from South Lanarkshire, who died after being restrained by 17 prison officers at HMP Edinburgh.
For years, the Marshall family had demanded answers—answers that, until now, were met with silence, denials, and bureaucratic dead ends. But this week, the Scottish state finally acknowledged what the family had insisted all along: Allan Marshall’s death was not only unlawful, but also the result of “unnecessary and excessive forcible restraint” by those charged with his care. The authorities further admitted they failed in their legal duties to properly investigate the circumstances and hold anyone accountable.
The events leading to Marshall’s death began in March 2015. On remand at HMP Edinburgh for unpaid fines and breach of the peace charges, Marshall experienced a mental health crisis. Rather than calling for medical assistance, prison officers moved him to the segregation unit. There, he became more agitated. Instead of de-escalating the situation or seeking medical help, officers forcibly restrained him face down for at least 40 minutes. CCTV footage later revealed a harrowing scene: Marshall, prone with his limbs raised, being kneeled on and pushed down by officers’ feet as he struggled for breath. Plastic handcuffs were applied while he was still face down—a position known to be dangerous, especially for someone with an underlying heart condition.
Marshall’s injuries were extensive. According to STV News, he suffered cuts and bruises to his body and face, and the skin was scraped off the top of his feet. He died in hospital four days later, never regaining consciousness. The cause of death was recorded as brain injury due to cardiac arrest during physical restraint—effectively, his brain was starved of oxygen while being held down.
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) in 2019 found Marshall’s death was “entirely preventable” and described the officers as “mutually dishonest” in their testimony. Yet, despite weeks of evidence and a sheriff’s confirmation that the death should never have happened, no one was held responsible. The FAI, as Marshall’s family learned, cannot compel accountability or require changes to be made.
For the Marshall family, this was just the beginning of a decade-long ordeal. Sharon MacFadyen, Allan’s aunt and the driving force behind the fight for justice, reflected outside the court: “We have been fighting for justice for Allan for over ten years, since the day he died. These admissions confirm what we’ve always known—that prison officers killed Allan by using unnecessary and excessive force on him. That was clear when we first watched the CCTV footage ten years ago, and it shouldn’t have taken a court action to finally get an admission of that.”
The family’s struggle was compounded by what they describe as a culture of denial and obfuscation. “For over ten years, we’ve been fighting for the truth, and have been ignored, dismissed and denied information by the Scottish Prison Service,” MacFadyen said. “We waited for a Fatal Accident Inquiry into Allan’s death, believing that would confirm how he died and that anyone responsible would be held to account, but that didn’t happen.”
According to The Guardian, the Crown Office’s decision to grant the officers involved lifelong immunity from prosecution was described by campaigners as “extraordinary.” An unpublished 2024 review by the Crown Office itself later concluded that the original decision not to prosecute was “incorrect.” This, coupled with the admissions made in court, underscored systemic failures in how deaths in custody are investigated and how families are treated.
Barbara Bolton, partner and legal director at JustRight Scotland, the legal team representing the family, said: “The Scottish Ministers, for the Scottish Prison Service, have finally admitted that Allan Marshall’s right to life was breached by the very institution responsible for his safety and wellbeing. It has taken the family over ten years of campaigning to finally secure official confirmation of something that was obvious to them as soon as they saw the CCTV footage.” Bolton added, “SPS should have acknowledged severe failures right away, made an unequivocal and public apology, and committed to measurable change to ensure it would never happen again. Instead, they ignored the family, refused them information only SPS had access to, and denied any wrongdoing, for over ten years.”
The apologies were sweeping. Jo Farrell, Chief Constable of Police Scotland, admitted, “The investigation following the death of Allan Marshall in 2015 fell below the standard required and for that I am sorry. On behalf of Police Scotland, I apologise to Allan’s family and place on record my condolences for their loss.” A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal stated, “The Lord Advocate has apologised for the failures in this case and offered condolences to Allan Marshall’s family. Since these events, COPFS has undertaken significant reforms. Bereaved families can expect investigations to be pursued with the vigour and expertise they deserve.”
The Scottish Prison Service also issued a public apology: “We sincerely apologise for failings which resulted in the sad death of Mr Marshall and our thoughts and condolences remain with his family. We have learned from this and have taken forward and actioned the recommendations from the FAI, as we continually seek to improve how we support staff and keep people safe.” The SPS said it would not comment further while proceedings remain live.
The ramifications of this case extend beyond the Marshall family. As BBC News noted, this is the first time in Scotland that all three state agencies have publicly admitted to an unlawful death in custody and accepted that the state failed to adequately investigate. Legal experts and campaigners believe the precedent could have wide-reaching implications for how deaths in custody are handled across the UK, particularly regarding the obligations public institutions have to safeguard those in their care and to properly investigate when things go tragically wrong.
For the Marshall family, the court’s admissions are bittersweet. “This victory is not just for Allan, but for every family who has lost someone in custody and been denied justice,” their statement concluded. Still, as MacFadyen pointed out, “The Sheriff at the FAI said the prison officers lied in their evidence, so we will never know the full truth of what happened to Allan.”
While the apologies and admissions cannot undo the harm done, they mark a significant—if belated—acknowledgment of the state’s failures. The hope, now, is that this hard-fought reckoning will drive lasting change, sparing other families from a similar ordeal.
