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The family of death-in-jail inmate Allan Marshall have revealed they felt bullied into agreeing a deal that gave prison officers immunity from prosecution.

The 30-year-old’s aunt Sharon MacFadyen broke their silence on the shocking results of a fatal accident inquiry into his death.

Allan was dragged feet-first and face down across a corridor floor in HMP Saughton, Edinburgh, and restrained by up to 17 guards.

He suffered multiple injuries, from which he later died.

Sharon revealed jail officers were told they would not be charged with any criminal offence if they gave evidence at the FAI.

But the family were left shocked when the sheriff at the FAI, Gordon Liddle, ruled Allan’s death was “entirely ­preventable” and accused officers of failing to tell the whole truth about what happened.

Sheriff Liddle said: “Sometimes they appeared to be mutually and consistently dishonest.”

The family are angry the officers have been given their ­guarantee for questionable evidence about an incident that was, in any case, ­captured on CCTV.

(Image: Collect)

Allan’s relatives also spoke for the first time of their four-year battle for justice and their determination to expose the failings of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in his death.

They released a ­harrowing picture of him in an induced coma taken at Edinburgh Royal ­Infirmary on March 26, 2015. He had been admitted unconscious two days earlier from Saughton and died two days later.

Sharon, 46, of Rutherglen, Glasgow, attended every one of the 25 days of evidence at FAI. She said: “We still don’t understand why the Crown offered immunity from ­criminal charges.

“We were told if we didn’t agree that the witnesses would offer a ‘no comment’ and answer nothing all the way through it. I felt they ­bullied us into making a ­decision and accepting this.”

Allan was restrained while being taken to the jail’s ­segregation and reintegration unit after damaging his cell and smearing it in excrement.

(Image: Collect)

It is understood that the ­immunity from prosecution means the officers cannot even be charged with assault.

Brother Alistair, 36, a bus driver from Bellshill, Lanarkshire, said: “We want more, we want criminal charges pressed against them.

“There’s been a cover up. I think the prison officers have lied to save themselves. I think they’ve tried to beat him up and then realised that he has overpowered them. They’ve then called for back up.”

Alistair, Sharon and family friends Connie O’Hara, 61, and Charles Campbell, 60, went through the ordeal of watching CCTV footage of the incident.

Sharon added: “It was horrific. There were a couple of times the sheriff asked if we wanted the screens switched off because he could see it was upsetting.”

Dad of two Allan was self-employed and had his own electrical appliance recycling business in Castlemilk, Glasgow. He was being held in jail after being arrested ­outside a club in Hamilton following an incident involving a bouncer.

(Image: Daily Record)

Allan had appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court on a breach of the peace charge and was remanded in custody because of unpaid fines.

He had been in jail for almost a month when the ­family were told he had been taken to hospital. They were shocked to find him in a coma.

Sharon added: “It was as if he’d been in a car crash. He had a gash above his eye, a big lump on his head and bruising over his arm. There was no skin across his shoulder blades.

“There was also a footprint on his leg and he had a neck brace on. His left ear was black and blue. It was horrendous.

“We asked a nurse if it was normal for ­someone to come out of prison with the bruises and injuries like Allan’s.

“She said she had seen people being restrained but not this far. She said ­questions need to be asked.”

The FAI heard a claim Allan was suffering from excited delirium syndrome – a ­controversial diagnosis, with symptoms said to include

agitation and ­unexpected strength.

Alistair said: “I’d spoken to Allan a few days earlier and he seemed fine.”

Immunity decision similar to bin lorry case The Crown Office’s decision to grant prison officers immunity from criminal charges is similar to the deal it offered bin lorry driver Harry Clarke. Then Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland ruled proscutors would not pursuse the council employee over the deaths of six people who died when they were hit by his refuse truck. He also injured 15 people when he passed out at the wheel at Glasgow’s George Square in December 2014. Clarke gave evidence at the FAI in 2015 and it was found that the tragedy could have been avoided if he had not lied to his doctor, the DVLA and Glasgow City Council about his medical history. In an interview in 2016, Mulholland said there had not been enough evidence to prosecute Clarke. In December that year, a bid by the victims’ families to raise a rare private prosecution was thrown out by appeal judges in Edinburgh.

Forensic pathologist Dr ­Robert Ainsworth said Allan had a heart ­condition which contributed to his death.

But he agreed it was possible his breathing was affected by being held face down and that psychological stress of the restraint could have increased the risk of ­cardiac arrest. Allan was also found to have a ­number of blunt force injuries.

The FAI at Edinburgh Sheriff Court ended last December.

One prison nurse described about 20 officers lining up beside Allan “shoulder to shoulder like a penalty shootout”.

Toxicology tests found no evidence of illegal drugs or legal highs in Allan’s system, although prison officers claimed they suspected he had taken them.

One witness, identified only as RM, said he had never seen restraint with such violence. In his 109-page report, ­Sheriff ­Liddle was highly critical.

(Image: PA)

He said: “It was clear that prison officer staff did not tell the whole truth on a number of occasions.

“Sometimes they appeared to be mutually and consistently ­dishonest. There were, in all, 17 prison officers of some level involved at one point or another.

“Mr Marshall received a large number of injuries, some of which have not been properly explained.” Allan’s family are demanding a meeting with the SPS.

Their lawyer Jelina Berlow-Rahman added: “The family feared, after waiting four years to find out the truth of what actually happened to Allan Marshall, that the truth would be stifled unless immunity from ­prosecution was granted to the witnesses.

“It was therefore agreed by the family that they would accept this decision.”

The SPS said it would be happy to meet the Marshall family. A spokesman added: “We will do what we can address any issues they want to raise with us.”

The Crown Office said both it “and ­Procurator Fiscal ­Service is giving careful ­consideration to the sheriff’s determination”.