Allan's death is grotesque and sickening..and this should be the beginning of a process that makes sure it never happens again

THE death of Allan Marshall in custody remains one of the worst criminal justice scandals in Scotland's recent history and the full disgraceful truth now needs to be told.

- MonicaLennon

The Scottish Prison Service has finally admitted in court that the shocking incident at HMP Edinburgh was unlawful - 10 years on from the fatality.

Allan was on remand when he was brutally restrained face down by 17 prison officers and died four days later.

What an injustice that it is only now his family has received an apology from the prison service, Crown Office and Police Scotland after the Court of Session heard the level of force went far beyond what could ever have been necessary.

It should not have taken a court to extract this apology and this should be the beginning, not the end, of a genuine process of facing up to the truth and learning lessons so that nothing like this can happen again.

Allan was unconvicted and being held for unpaid fines and breach of the peace charges when he experienced a mental health crisis.

He was dragged naked and face down across a corridor and restrained by guards.

One of the most disturbing pieces of footage shows what appears to be a towel placed over his face in the corridor of the Segregation and Reintegration Unit.

An officers is seen forcefully placing his knee on Allan's back seven seconds after he was dragged from the shower block. A colleague for no clear reason puts a foot on his back later.

Some prison officers are laughing and smiling as the 30-year-old is taken away by paramedics to a waiting ambulance. Another appears to give a thumbs-up at the end.