A sheriff has determined that the death of Jamie Forbes, who fell from a high-rise flat in Aberdeen after being tortured and held against his will, might realistically have been avoided had police procedures been followed correctly.
Forbes, 37, was held captive and subjected to severe abuse in an 18-storey building called Elphinstone Court for two days in January 2024. When he fell from a 12th-floor window, a critical failure in how emergency services handled a 999 call reporting screams for help had already compromised the police response.
Sheriff Principal Andrew Miller's determination, published following a fatal accident inquiry held earlier this year in Aberdeen, identified systemic failures in how the emergency call was processed and how officers conducted their search. The sheriff found that four specific precautions might realistically have prevented Forbes's death: accurately recording the caller's information, attempting to confirm it with the caller, clarifying witness information with officers before they stood down, and acting on workmen's information that the cries came from higher floors.
How did the 999 call go wrong?
A caller named Gail Thomson reported hearing screams and indicated she believed they were coming from approximately six floors down from the top of the building. However, Callum Scott, a Police Scotland service adviser, recorded the information incorrectly as coming from six to eight floors up—a significant error that sent officers to search the wrong section of the building.
Scott acknowledged to the inquiry that he had made a "recording error" and that there had been a "miscommunication" between himself and the caller. Despite flagging the incident as requiring an immediate response because someone was shouting for help, the inaccurate location information meant the initial police search was directed to the wrong floors.
What happened during the police response?
Constable William Bayliss attended the scene and, based on the incorrectly recorded information, he and a colleague went to the seventh floor of Elphinstone Court. They also knocked on doors on the fifth, sixth, and eighth floors but found no evidence of anyone in distress. Critically, officers at the scene received information from workmen that the cries had actually come from the upper floors, but they did not act on this intelligence before being stood down.
A Police Investigations and Review Commissioner report had previously described the officers' inquiries at the scene as "cursory" and said they did not exhaust potential lines of inquiry. The report also noted confusion over what witnesses had told police and highlighted that a workman's account of the shouting coming from the top half of the building was not pursued.
What were the circumstances of Forbes's death?
Forbes had been subjected to extreme violence by Lee Smith, 37, who repeatedly struck him with a hammer and punched and kicked him during a two-day ordeal. The abuse was so severe that Forbes saw the window as his only means of escape—the flat's door lock had been tampered with, leaving him no other route out. When he fell from the 12th floor, a post-mortem examination revealed multiple internal injuries from the fall and sharp-force injuries to his hands described as "classic defence-type injuries."
Smith was jailed for eight years in December 2024 after admitting culpable homicide. At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lady Hood heard evidence that the abuse inflicted on Forbes was so severe that he had no realistic alternative but to jump from the window.
What did the sheriff's determination conclude?
Sheriff Principal Miller's nearly 100-page determination found that there were precautions which could reasonably have been taken that might realistically have resulted in the death being avoided. Importantly, the sheriff found no defects in any system of working that contributed to the death and said no police officer or staff member was responsible for it. Instead, he focused on identifying procedural improvements that could prevent similar tragedies.
The determination identified four key areas where intervention might have changed the outcome: the 999 call information could have been accurately noted; an attempt could have been made to contact the caller to confirm what she had reported; a sergeant could have confirmed what witnesses were being referred to when speaking to officers at the scene before they were stood down; and officers could have acted on information from workmen that cries heard earlier had come from the upper floors.
What recommendations has the sheriff made?
Sheriff Principal Miller made two formal recommendations to the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. First, guidance should be developed and introduced for Police Scotland service advisers to minimise mistakes in recording information from members of the public. The sheriff's determination recommends that guidance require service advisers to repeat potentially sensitive details, such as an incident's location, so callers can correct misunderstandings.
Second, guidance should be introduced to clarify when an attempt should be made to contact someone who has called the police to report a concern for a person, and who should be responsible for doing so. These recommendations are intended to "might realistically prevent other deaths in similar circumstances."
In his conclusion, Sheriff Principal Miller stated: "I wish to join with all of the other participants in the inquiry in expressing the court's condolences to Mr Forbes's family, who have suffered the untimely loss of Mr Forbes in these most tragic and distressing circumstances."
What is the family's response?
Lyndsay-Anne Forbes, the victim's sister, has been campaigning for systemic change to prevent similar deaths. She has called for the introduction of "Jamie's Law," which would ensure police could not leave situations unresolved until they had found the person in question and made them safe. Her advocacy reflects the family's determination to transform their tragedy into protection for others.
Key Facts
- Jamie Forbes was held captive and tortured for two days in January 2024 before falling from a 12th-floor window at Elphinstone Court in Aberdeen
- A 999 call handler recorded the location of screams incorrectly, directing police to search the wrong floors
- Sheriff Principal Andrew Miller found the death might realistically have been prevented through four specific procedural changes
- Lee Smith was jailed for eight years in December 2024 after admitting culpable homicide
- The sheriff has recommended new guidance for Police Scotland call handlers and procedures for confirming emergency information with callers
