The party published a letter they received from justice secretary Angela Constance, who said she had confidence in the FAI system but acknowledged more can always be done. It comes after the FAI into the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill published its findings at the end of May, some nine years after the pair died. Their car crashed off the M9 near Stirling and they lay in the Renault Clio for three days before being discovered, despite police previously being alerted to the incident.
Sheriff James Williamson’s FAI found there was “organisational failure” in police call handling procedures. Constance’s letter to the Lib Dems discussed the length of time it took for the FAI to reach its conclusion. She said: “This was a highly complex case which required detailed and lengthy investigation, involving complicated issues and a reliance on information and expert opinion from many different sources.
“We recognise that the time taken for the investigation and criminal proceedings to conclude and to initiate the inquiry must have been enormously difficult for the families of Ms Bell and Mr Yuill.” She continued: “The law governing fatal accident inquiries was comprehensively reviewed by Lord Cullen and the findings of that review were reflected in the current FAI legislation. “There are no plans to review that legislation.
“We have every confidence in the system that is in place for FAIs but we acknowledge that there is always more that can be done.” Lib Dem .
