Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

From: Crown Office

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

News Release

26 January 2012

FATAL ACCIDENT INQUIRY TO BE HELD INTO THE DEATH OF DECLAN HAINEY

A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) will be held into the death of infant Declan Hainey. The Procurator Fiscal at Paisley will apply to the Sheriff Court for the holding of the Inquiry.

Declan Hainey was last seen alive aged 15 months. His body was discovered in March 2010, when he would have been 23 months old, in a flat in Paisley. His mother, Kimberley Hainey, was found guilty and convicted of his murder on 15 December 2011 by a Jury at Glasgow High Court and sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 January 2012.

The decision to hold an FAI was made by Crown Counsel. Following Kimberley Hainey’s conviction the Procurator Fiscal at Paisley reported the matter to the Crown Office Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU) and thereafter to Crown Counsel for consideration of a Fatal Accident Inquiry under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976.

Notes to editors:

1. The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are assisted in relation to High Court prosecution and similar work by Advocate Deputes who are known collectively as Crown Counsel.

2. The SFIU oversees and provides advice and support to local specialist deaths investigators in Procurator Fiscal offices around the country. In particular, the Unit deals with more complex non-criminal cases, including providing guidance in all cases where a Fatal Accident Inquiry is to be held.

3. A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is a statutory public inquiry into the circumstances of a death. The Procurator Fiscal can apply to the Sheriff Court to hold a FAI. The Procurator Fiscal can hold a FAI where there are issues of public safety or matters of general public concern arising from a death and there is a need to highlight hazardous or dangerous circumstances or systems that have caused or contributed to it.