THE Scottish Government must share the blame with cops for the M9 crash scandal, Willie Rennie claims.
The ex-Scots Lib Dems leader said he’d raised concerns over the force’s call-handling system before Lamara Bell and John Yuill died in 2015.
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But he told how senior Nats — including then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon — “refused to listen”.
This week a fatal accident inquiry blamed “organisational failure” in the Police Scotland set-up for the death of tragic Lamara, 25.
She lay critically ill for three days beside dead partner John, 28, after their car left the motorway and ended up in a field near Stirling — despite a passer-by reporting he’d seen the vehicle.
In a letter to Justice Secretary Angela Constance, Mr Rennie claimed the SNP Government rushed through the creation of the national force in April 2013.
It saw call-handling staff being replaced with officers who did not know how the system worked, he added.
Some brave whistleblowers took personal risks to make politicians aware that it was unsafe, while ministers had the opportunity to listen to reports from frontline cops and staff. But Mr Rennie said: “The Scottish Government refused to listen.”
He explained: “In March and April of 2015, months before the deaths of Ms Bell and Mr Yuill, I highlighted issues with Police Scotland call-handling to then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
“No serious scrutiny was conducted following this.
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“Ms Sturgeon blamed the issues in one case I raised on a mere ‘technical fault’, and promised me that ‘when concerns are raised, they are responded to and actioned’.
“As the inquiry’s determination clearly demonstrates, that was not true.”
The fatal accident probe, held in Falkirk, ruled that Lamara would probably have survived if she had received medical treatment promptly.
Sheriff James Williamson slammed failures at the calls hub in Bilston Glen, Midlothian. He said the force had not properly risk-assessed its procedures and the officer who didn’t log the call was inadequately trained and left largely unsupervised on a system that allowed human error to go undetected.
But Mr Rennie asked Ms Constance if the Scottish Government will accept that “it too bears responsibility for the failures that led to Ms Bell’s death”.
The MSP said there were lengthy delays in publishing the report and called for a reform of FAIs to “ensure lessons are learned quickly and families given closure”.
Justice chief Ms Constance said: “The Scottish Government and Police Scotland have unreservedly apologised for the tragic loss of Lamara and John. Since 2015, Police Scotland has made significant improvements to their call-handling systems.”
