The deaths of three men at Shotts Prison will be investigated by a court.
Marius Bauba, James Garscadden, and Thomas Thompson passed away within four months of each other after taking a concoction of illegal and prescription drugs at the jail.
Now the Crown Office has ordered a Fatal Accident Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding their deaths, with an anticipated focus on how they managed to get a hold of illegal drugs behind bars.
Bauba, 28, was serving nine years for stabbing former body-builder Morgan Dunn to death when he was rushed to Wishaw General Hospital in July 2021, but nothing could be done to save him
READ MORE: Prison suicides of two young Glaswegians to be investigated by court
Garscadden was serving 27 months for taking police on a high-speed three-mile chase on the wrong side of the M8 with a child in the car when he died in his cell in similar circumstances in June of the same year.
Thompson died in drug-related circumstances at the Lanarkshire prison two months earlier on April 18 after being convicted at Greenock Sheriff Court.
In a statement released this morning the Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) explained the deaths involved "the consumption of a variety of illegal and prescription drugs, including etizolam".
Unlike criminal proceedings, FAIs are used to establish facts and not apportion blame, however, recommendations can be made by the presiding sheriff to try and minimise the risk of deaths occurring in similar circumstances. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place at Hamilton Sheriff Court on July 20.
Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads fatalities investigations for COPFS said: "An FAI will allow a full public airing of all the evidence at which families and other interested parties can be represented. The evidence will be tested in a public setting and be the subject of judicial determination.
"The families and their legal representatives will continue to be kept informed of significant developments as court proceedings progress."
READ NEXT:
Dad died in police custody after being arrested at his own 21st birthday party
Tragedy of Lanarkshire schoolgirl left to die alone as cruel mum went to pub to be probed at inquiry
