The family of Katie Allan, who took her own life in prison after months of bullying and horrendous mistreatment are seeking justice and to stop any other young person suffering in the same way. They are seeking an immediate review and radical reform of the prison system and answers about what happened to Katie. Please contribute now and share this page on social media. 

Case Background: 

In February 2018 Katie Allan pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink-driving as a result of which she was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

The judge said he had no alternative to custody despite the victim not wanting her to be sent to prison. Katie had no previous convictions and was a third-year Geography student at the University of Glasgow.

Whilst at prison she was repeatedly subjected to ‘targetted’ for strip searches. The staff allegedly failed to act on warnings from Katie’s family that she was vulnerable and had a history of self-harm. She was bullied and during the period in prison lost over 80% of her hair.

She rapidly lost all hope, at the age of 21 she was terrified and on the 4^th June was found dead in her cell having taken her own life. She was due to be released on a tag in less than a month.

A Message From Katie's Mother Linda: 

"Katie was a vibrant, compassionate young 3^rd year geography student, working hard to achieve her degree. She made a mistake and broke the law, no one more than Katie accepted that she deserved to receive judicial punishment.

What Katie received, however, was horrific torture at the hands of the Scottish criminal justice system. Experiences which left her broken.

Despite numerous reports and a growing body of evidence all arguing that custody is not where young women should be sent, the sentencing judge decided that Katie should be sent to prison.

What Katie endured within HMPYOI Polmont was draconian, violating and institutionalised. The acceptable culture of violence, bullying, drugs and threats within Polmont is shrouded in a cloud of bureaucratic secrecy.

For most people our daughter will be remembered for what has happened to her in the last few months of her life. Yet in her short life she was so much more than this to her friends, family, fellow students and those who met her.

"We simply cannot allow the suffering that Katie endured to happen to any other young person in Scotland."

We need radical reform of our criminal justice system to ensure that there is consistency when sentencing offending young men and women and that where people are unfortunate enough to find themselves in one of Scotland’s HMPYOI establishments, they are treated like human beings and are protected from harm, It doesn’t seem much to ask."

How much is being raised and why? 

The initial target is £10k but the family will then go on to raise as much as they can to ensure they achieve the following: 

1. Launch a legal campaign to call for an immediate review and radical reform of the Prison System and provision of mental health services.

2. To instruct their lawyers to fight for answers from the prison service rather than waiting 4 years for the results of a Fatal Accident Inquiry.

3. Seek answers from the Scottish Government on the broken prison system.