Alexander Salmond, formerly of Fairykirk Road, was described as “a serious danger to young girls” when he was caged for life in June 2003.
He died, aged 59, in his cell at HMP Glenochil near Alloa on October 26, 2022.
Salmond was jailed for a catalogue of sexual abuse of young girls over a 26-year period.
His trial at the High Court in Edinburgh heard that he first began preying on children in 1976, when he was 13, and raped an 11-year-old girl on Christmas Day when he was in his 30s.
One of the victims was aged just three and the offences took place in High Valleyfield and Rosyth as well as Bo’ness and Bannockburn.
At the sentencing judge Roderick Macdonald told Salmond he was “a serious danger to young girls.”
A FAI is mandatory when a death occurs in legal custody and it was held in September last year.
It was determined that Salmond – who had a “complex personality disorder” and was bedridden, incontinent and receiving end of life care – died of pneumonia and damage from a stroke.
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In his summary, Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon wrote: “I have found that Mr Salmond died of natural causes, and, on the evidence, there are no systemic defects arising or precautions that might have been taken to avoid the death.”
The punishment part of Salmond’s sentence – the length of time behind bars before a prisoner can be considered for parole – was seven years and six months.
It expired on April 2010 but he was never released and was still deemed high-risk when he died.
The FAI determination said that, shortly after his conviction in 2003, Salmond was transferred to the state hospital in Carstairs for treatment after being diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In 2012 doctors concluded that he did not suffer from schizophrenia but a “complex personality disorder”.
He was transferred to Glenochil in 2014.
Salmond had strokes in 2020 and 2021 and a ‘Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation’ was put in place.
He was in the Forth Valley Royal Hospital a further three times in December 2021 and January 2022. It was acknowledged that his “cognitive impairment was likely to be permanent” and that his condition “was likely to continue to deteriorate”.
Salmond’s application to be considered for compassionate release was refused by the parole board in March 2022.
Four days before he died his two carers raised concerns about his condition and NHS medical staff checked on him four times prior to his death.
At the two hourly check at 10pm on October 26, 2022, staff went into his cell and believed he had died.
They checked and couldn’t find a pulse.
No CPR was undertaken, paramedics were called and he was pronounced dead at 11.25pm.
A post-mortem was done and the cause of death attributed to “left lower lobar pneumonia” and “previous cerebrovascular event”.
The purpose of a FAI is to establish the circumstances of the death and to consider what steps, if any, may be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances. Unlike a criminal trial, it is inquisitorial in nature and used to establish facts rather than to apportion blame.
Sheriff O’Hanlon said: “There was an appropriate package in place to deliver the high level of care that he required.
“The evidence discloses that Mr Salmond received the appropriate case and treatment and that only in a custodial setting could that level of care be provided in a safe manner.”