Fatal accident inquiry process begins into deaths of Falkirk couple Lamara Bell and John Yuill

Lamara and her partner John (28) were involved in a road traffic incident when their car left the M9 near Stirling and hit a tree on July 5, 2015.

Despite a call being made to police, it took them three days to respond and when officers finally arrived at the scene, Mr Yuill was dead and Ms Bell later died in hospital at the age of just 25, leaving two young children without a mother.

Police Scotland pleaded guilty to “health and safety” failings at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2021 and subsequentlyhad to pay out over £1 million compensation to Lamara’s family, more than six years after her tragic death.

Now a preliminary FAI hearing is scheduled to take place on December 16 at Stirling Sheriff Court.

Preliminary hearings are used to identify those who are to participate in the inquiry, consider the scope of the inquiry, consider the information likely to be presented at the inquiry and to make any other orders as the court deems appropriate.

Procurator Fiscal Katrina Parkes, head of COPFS’s Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit, said: "The Lord Advocate considers that these deaths occurred in circumstances giving rise to significant public concern.

"This has been a complex, detailed and lengthy investigation. The lodging of the first notice enables FAI proceedings to commence under the direction of the Sheriff.

“The families and their legal representatives will continue to be kept informed of significant developments as court proceedings progress.”

The purpose of an FAI includes determining the cause of death, the circumstances in which the death occurred, and to establish what reasonable precautions could have been taken to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.

This particular FAI follows the prosecution and conviction of the Office of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland for a breach of health and safety legislation.