The Death of Colin Love sparks Glasgow Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament to call for change in Scots Law with Colin’s Family.
Dr Kenneth Faulds MSYP “ “The death of a child is an unbearable sorrow that no parent should ever have to endure.”
“Politics can sometimes divide us, but there is a common human bond that unites us in sympathy and compassion in times of trial and in support for each other, at times of grief”
The above quotes are from Prime Minister- Gordon Brown, following the sad death of David Cameron's son Ivan at the age of six.
Julie Love is a courageous woman; she looked forward to the future, sharing a life with Colin and his family of choice. She cannot imagine, nor did she contemplate, his death at an early age as some mothers have to face.
No mother wants to see the death of their child. Most parents pass away before their child leaving a legacy of Love and Memories, hopefully wisdom, to help that child grow into adulthood and raise their own child/children.
The Colin Love petition fights for something that the ordinary Scottish family deserve. It is not a luxury nor is it a condiment or courtesy but it is a basic human right.
Colin’s petition calls for a change in the law, an anomaly in our robust legal system. When a Scottish person dies abroad and is returned home. We are buried or cremated with no questions asked.
However, we want what English people have and that is for our Crown Office to have the discretion to make one of the two decisions regarding a death abroad:
1. There has been a full robust judicial inquiry in the country of death that I feel has answered every question therefore we will not be holding one here.
2. I believe that there was insufficient answers and there wasn’t a robust judicial inquiry into the death of said person in the country of death and therefore I think it is imperative that we investigate this matter and if need be apply to the sheriff to hold a FAI.
The launch of this petition marks the beginning of an incredible journey, one part of a plethora of things to come in Colin’s name. We know that the petition won’t stop people drowning in Margarita Island and that’s why Julie is setting up a charity in Colin’s name to try and prevent deaths on that beach.”
We have has growing support from people like Alan Carr, Shaun Connery, Billy Connolly, Bill Aiken MSP, Frank McAveety MSP. And the Glasgow MSYP Group who voted unanimously to support the petition .
Austin Sheridan MSYP for Glasgow Govan and Vice Chairman of the Glasgow MSYP Group said “I was very saddened when I heard the story about how Colin Love died, A death of a close family member is tragic but it is worse when you don’t know: why, when, where or how. It is not only frustrating that somewhere, someplace some undeserving person is in possession of these answers but won’t give them up.”
Austin Sheridan MSYP has also contacted First Minister Alex Salmond MSP MP and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP calling for them to rally behind the campaign that would help so many Scottish families and friends get the answers they deserve when a loved one dies aboard.
By Austin Sheridan MSYP on behalf of the Glasgow MSYP Group
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Background Information.
Section 1 of the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths (Scotland) Act 1976 excludes the operation of the Act from deaths furth of Scotland. This contrasts with the situation in England, where section 8 of the Coroners Act 1988 provides that the coroner must hold an inquiry where the final resting place of a repatriated body is England.
This lacuna in the law has meant that the sudden or unexpected death abroad of an English civilian will automatically trigger a coroner's inquiry upon the return of the corpse. This is in addition to any inquiry that may have taken place in the country in which the person died. Where there has been a robust inquiry already, it is arguable that the English system leads to wasteful reduplication. However, where there has been no such inquiry, the coroner plays a vital role.
In contrast, due to the operation of the 1976 Act, the sudden death of a person from Scotland in very many developing countries will never be the subject of a judicial inquiry. This situation is potentially dangerous for Scottish people abroad. The Scottish Government has a duty of care to ensure that the deaths of people from Scotland do not go uninvestigated and that families receive justice. At present, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service does not know how many people from Scotland have died abroad in recent years. This is disquieting.
Accordingly, my submission is that the 1976 Act ought to be amended to oblige the procurator fiscal of an individual's district of domicile to investigate the circumstances of a sudden or unexpected death abroad and to apply to the sheriff to hold a fatal accident inquiry unless he/she is satisfied that the matter has already been fully investigated by competent judicial authorities.
This issue came to my attention when a close friend of mine - Colin Love, 23, from Glasgow drowned while he was on a cruise when it docked in Margarita Island in the province of Venezuela. His mother, Julie, and the rest of her family were dismayed to discover that there would be no judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Colins death. Colins family feel that he deserves at least this much. Like many young people with a life ahead of him in Scotland, Colin was embracing a chance that had been offered to him to travel abroad. He was using his trip to reflect on where he wanted to go in life. This tragedy has taken Colins life and blighted those of his family. The Scottish legal system should have afforded them the right to a judicial inquiry and the prospect of closure that that would bring.
I researched the issue further and discovered that the UK Government, with the permission of the Scottish Parliament, has put into place legislation that would require the COPFS to hold a fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of service personnel abroad. This is an important step forward but it does not help people in the same situation as Colins family.
Dr Kenneth Faulds MSYP and Julie Love (Colin’s Mum) launched the campaign.
Posted by Austin Sheridan MSYP on behalf of the Glasgow MSYP Group
