Lord Advocate to investigate Fife Dad's hospital restraint death
The Lord Advocate has told the family of a Fife man that an investigation will be undertaken, looking at how Joseph Sneddon died in a Kirkcaldy hospital after being restrained by police and security guards
The family of a Fife Dad who died after being restrained in hospital have been told an investigation will be carried out to look into the circumstances of his death.
37-year-old Joseph Sneddon was admitted to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on Friday the 6th of April 2022, suffering with mental health issues.
Less than 48 hours later, in the early hours of the 8th of April, he died - his family were told he'd become "agitated" and had taken a turn for the worse.
They were then told Joseph "has passed" and that his "heart stopped" but received very little additional details.
They say this continued for months, with Police officers PIRC (Police Investigations and Review Commissioner) telling them the incident was "complex" but admitting police officers had been involved in restraining Joseph.
The family finally obtained a copy of the redacted post-mortem examination report showing Mr Sneddon had been restrained for "at least a four-hour period" and had been very agitated and "extensively fighting" against the restraints.
Mr Sneddon was just 8st 2lbs (52kg) despite being 6ft 3in at the time of his death, and had a total of 34 separate injuries.
Today (Wednesday February 15th) the Sneddon family held a press conference, along with legal representation Aamer Anwar.
Joseph's mother Jane told the media:
"All I want is answers as to what happened to my son and why he isn't at home with me and his family.
"There is no reason why he shouldn't be with his sons now. I want to know who was in contact with Joe during the four hours he was strapped to a hospital bed, obviously afraid and wanting to go home."
On Wednesday morning, the family had a meeting with Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, regarding Mr Sneddon's case.
Ms Bain said: "I would like to thank the Sneddon family for meeting with me and for sharing their experiences. I was able to update them on the initial and on-going investigation into Joseph's death and I listened carefully to what they had to say.
"The Crown is committed to the thorough and effective investigation of all deaths which occur in legal custody. The Crown have engaged and updated the family in the course of the investigation, and are committed to continuing to do so as the investigation continues."
Mr Anwar, said the family of Joseph Sneddon welcomed today's meeting with the Lord Advocate.
"The Lord Advocate was told by the family that they have been tortured by the lack of information as to how and why Joseph Sneddon met his death," he said.
"Twenty one pages of the post-mortem had 11 pages totally redacted.
"The Lord Advocate said the narrative of restraint of Joseph Sneddon is critical to determining if there is any potential criminality on behalf of the police officers, security guards, and the Victoria Hospital, and the Crown Office wanted to ensure that the narrative was accurate and nothing interfered with the integrity of their investigation."
Mr Anwar said the family has told the Lord Advocate they have "no confidence in the ability of the PIRC to deliver a robust and impartial investigation."
He added: "The Lord Advocate promised the family a robust and independent investigation.
"The family are aware that the police officers left the hospital to return to Kirkcaldy Police Office and were allowed to sit together.
"They also now know that following Joseph's death, the CID were involved in searching Joseph's house - they believe this was done with the intention of trying to smear Joseph following his death.
"Which senior officer at Police Scotland instructed the CID to search for such information? Did Police Scotland really think that Joseph's life was so cheap that his family would just walk away?
"The Sneddon family are determined to fight for justice and the truth for Joseph, however long it takes."