The M9 tragedy which saw two Scots left in their crashed car for days might not have happened if the closest police call centre had stayed open, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has claimed.
In an exclusive interview with The Courier ahead of this weekend’s party conference in Dunfermline, Mr Rennie launched a damning critique of the state of Police Scotland under the SNP’s watch and said he had been told by various sources that Lamara Bell and John Yuill may have been found far more quickly if the Stirling call centre had not been closed due to cuts.
A review of call handling was ordered after officers failed to act on a sighting of Mr Yuill and Ms Bell’s vehicle by the side of the M9 in July, with the couple eventually found following a second report three days later.
Mr Yuill, 28, was pronounced dead at the scene and Ms Bell died in hospital a few days later prompting nationwide condemnation of Police Scotland’s handling of the incident.
Mr Rennie said: “I’ve had police officers tell me that if the Stirling call centre had remained open then the M9 tragedy would never have happened.
“That’s them telling me that. I don’t know if that’s the case, but these are pretty reliable people I’ve been speaking to.
“The state of the police, perhaps more than any other issue, is having an effect on people and that terrible scene on the M9 was justpeople were outraged.
“And it links directly back to the SNP’s decision-making. When they said last year that they got a majority government on the basis of their record, then I think they will be equally judged on their record this time around and I don’t think it will be as favourable.”
The Stirling and Glenrothes call centres were among those earmarked for closure as part of Police Scotland’s rationalisation programme, and Mr Rennie has repeatedly condemned the move.
A motion to the conference is expected to call for fresh police reform legislation that, among other things, would see the creation of a policing plan for each local authority area in Scotland and the powers of the chief constable defined in statute.
Mr Rennie said: “The centralisation in our view was the wrong thing to do.