A GLASGOW woman whose son died in a drowning accident overseas has urged MSPs to pass laws that could prevent other families suffering.

 

Julie Love, from Maryhill, gave evidence as Holyrood's Justice Committee began its scrutiny of the Scottish Government's Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Bill.

The legislation seeks to update, expand and improve the FAI system by implementing most of the recommendations made in a 2009 review by retired senior judge Lord Cullen.

It would also allow for FAIs to be held into the deaths of Scots abroad where the body is repatriated, which Julie has campaigned for.

The Bill would also require a response from anyone made the subject of a recommendation by a sheriff at the end of an FAI - Julie believes this measure alone, would be a positive step.

Julie set up the charity Death Abroad You're Not Alone after her son Colin, 23, died in a swimming accident in Venezuela in 2009.

She told the committee: "For me the most important thing is recommendations when someone dies abroad.

"For anybody in the future going to that same area the same thing could happen, and it did happen again and again, and it's still happening today.

"I know that they will not always carry out these recommendation but at least that process would be in place."

A campaigner who lost her brother in a work accident broke down as she told MSPs of the difficulties bereaved families face in getting answers.

Louise Taggart told Holyrood's Justice Committee that the wait some relatives face for a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is "wholly unacceptable".

She broke down in tears as she related the circumstances surrounding the death of her brother Michael Adamson, 26, who was electrocuted while at work in 2005.

Ms Taggart, from Edinburgh, is a founder member of the campaign group Families Against Corporate Killers, set up to stop workers being killed in preventable incidents.

The group wants time limits for holding FAIs and calls for a review of the practice of inquiries taking place after criminal proceedings.

Lord Cullen told the committee that long delays for FAIs to take place were "very dismaying and very, very unfortunate".

He said it would "not be wise" to have an FAI start before the conclusion of any criminal proceedings but proposed an early hearing to give more information to families in the interim.

Ms Taggart said she was not convinced that an early hearing would give families as much information as they needed.

She told MSPs: "We can wait up to four years for an FAI to kick off.

"We have instances of families having had to wait seven years before they find out that an FAI isn't then going to take place.

"These delays of seven, six years are wholly unacceptable, so families need more answers more quickly, and it needs to be more than just an update on progress as to where we're at.

"It needs to be answers as to 'how has my relative died, why has my relative died?'"