A research team based at the University of Glasgow is investigating Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAI) that were held as a result of a death in custody.

The research papers and associated materials were produced by (Hon Prof.) Linda Allan, Stuart Allan, Professor Sarah Armstrong, Dr Betsy Barkas, Rachelle Cobain and Dr Deborah Russo.

In 2026 the project team received support from Chloe Rebecca Ezou, a PhD student based at the University of Stirling, as part of an academic placement from the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS).

The aim of the project is to identify patterns in FAI processes and outcomes to better understand what FAIs achieve, and plan research.

The team has published data for the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 (due to be published May 2026)

Punishment, Citizenship and Communities

Associated People

Prof Sarah Armstrong

University of Glasgow

Dr Betsy Barkas

University of Glasgow

Rachelle Cobain

University of Glasgow

Dr Deborah Russo

Edinburgh Napier University

Chloe Rebecca Ezou

University of Stirling

Related Publications

October 2026

Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and their Investigation in Scotland in 2025

This publication by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research is the fifth annual monitoring report on deaths in […]

April 2025

Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and their Investigation in Scotland in 2024

This publication by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research is the fourth annual monitoring report on deaths in […]

February 2024

Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and FAIs in Scotland – 2023 

This is the third annual report we have published on deaths in custody in Scotland and the investigations into these. […]

November 2022

Still Nothing to See Here? One year update on prison deaths and FAI outcomes in Scotland

This briefing provides a one-year update since we published our reports Nothing to See Here? and A Defective System in […]

October 2021

FAI Report Analysis

This document includes the R code used to analyse the data in the statistical briefing ‘Nothing to See Here?’. Not […]

October 2021

Fact Sheet: 15 years of FAI determinations for deaths in custody

As part of the Nothing to See Here? project this fact sheet is a summary of statistics based on analysis […]

October 2021

Nothing to See Here? Statistical Briefing

Nothing to See Here? Statistical Briefing on 15 years of Fatal Accident Inquiries into Deaths in Custody Authors: Professor Sarah […]

October 2021

A Defective System: Case Analysis of 15 years of FAI’s After Deaths in Prison

A Defective System: Case Analysis of 15 years of Fatal Accident Inquiries After Deaths in Prison Authors: Betsy Barkas, Linda […]