Nurse brought bananas to student suffering hair loss instead of bandana

09 January 2024 , 18:13

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Katie Allan, 21, was found dead in her cell at Polmont prison (Image: PA)

A student struggling with hair loss was brought a banana rather than a bandana in the weeks before she took her life behind bars.

Katie Allan, 21, was found dead in her cell at Polmont prison, near Falkirk, on the morning of June 4, 2018. Agreed evidence was heard on the first day of a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Falkirk Sheriff Court today, which is looking into the deaths of Katie and another inmate, William Brown, 16.

Heartbroken parents Linda and Stuart Allan spent months compiling a dossier of failures they claimed occurred before their daughter's death. In one incident, the couple asked if Katie, who was being bullied by fellow inmates about her hair loss, could be given a bandana to cover up. They said a nurse sent bananas instead.

The incident - which occurred at Polmont and Forth Valley NHS - was first brought to light in 2018 ahead of meetings with then Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf - now First Minister. Katie was found dead in her cell three weeks before she was to be released on a tag.

She had been sentenced to 16 months for drink driving and causing injury by dangerous driving. Her parents said she was failed by police, her lawyer, the courts, sheriff David Pender, the Crown, Polmont governor Brenda Stewart and Forth Valley NHS. The Allans were furious that a GP did not raise ­concerns after ­seeing Katie in the prison.

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Linda and Stuart Allan, the parents of Katie Allan, arrive at Falkirk Sheriff Court (PA)

They said more should have been done to help when it became obvious Katie was ­suffering from ­alopecia. In a letter to Forth Valley NHS's director of nursing Angela Wallace, Linda wrote: "Katie's legal representative emailed the governor of Polmont on the 26th of April, at our request, to seek medical ­intervention for Katie's rapid hair loss.

"Katie had tried and failed on several occasions to access ­nursing or medical treatment and was being tormented and bullied because of her hair loss by other girls in her hall. The Scottish Prison Service highlighted this to the NHS staff as a direct result of our intervention.

"When Katie began to lose her hair I asked if Katie be allowed a head scarf or bandana to cover the apparent areas of ­baldness. This was refused by the reception staff at HMP and YOI ­Polmont. SPS staff contacted the health centre before the 27th of April seeking advice on how to get Katie a head covering. Katie reported that a prison officer called the health centre and spoke with a member of the nursing team asking if Katie be allowed a head scarf or ­bandana."

Mum Linda with daughter Katie (Daily Record)

Katie was due to be released on tag three weeks after she died (PA)

"The nurse stated that they indeed had such items and would bring some to Katie's hall. A nurse went to Katie's hall with two bananas. As amusing as this story was at the time, it is a tragic ­representation of the blatant incompetence of the nursing staff." Dad Stuart said: "It sums up the sheer incompetence that we have encountered every step of the way."

Katie was locked up despite a plea from the family of Michael Keenan who was struck by her car in Giffnock, near ­Glasgow, in August 2017.

A Scottish Government spokesperson told the Mirror today: "Our thoughts are with every family who has been bereaved by suicide in prisons. Fatal Accident Inquiries are a matter for the independent Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. We cannot comment on these cases with the approaching Fatal Accident Inquiry and we will carefully consider the outcome."

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Ryan Merrifield