‘Smoke detector’ in cells can tell whether prisoners are alive

Prison cells have been fitted with ‘signs of life’ detectors which can tell whether the occupant is still alive.

The devices, described as looking like smoke detectors, have been installed in “a handful of cells” at HMP/YOI Polmont, in Scotland. Their installation was recommended in a report, published last year, into the deaths of two young people who took their own lives at the establishment in 2018.

The technology was welcomed by the head of a charity who has visited Polmont and seen the devices in cells. Professor Nancy Loucks, chief executive of Families Outside, told the Futurescot digital justice and policing conference in Glasgow: “I went to see some of this technology… and it was actually very, very interesting to see how that works.

“It’s very unobtrusive. It looks sort of like a smoke detector installed in the ceiling. This could have potential, not just to be used for preventing suicides, but for looking at natural cause deaths, for example, where people are unwell. There’s a real scope to try to make use of that technology that’s available.”

She told 1919 Magazine, which reported her comments at the conference: “I think it will help. The prison staff that we spoke to wouldn’t be wanting this to replace in-person contact.”

A Scottish Prison Service (SPS) spokesperson told the magazine: “We are committed to a range of actions which will be enduring and impactful, and will improve how we support people in the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

“This includes the piloting of signs of life technology, which will help our staff keep people safe by monitoring movements in a way which is proportionate and not intrusive.”

Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, also known as William Lindsay, were found dead in their cells at Polmont within four months of each other in 2018. William, who had been in care repeatedly, had walked into a police station with a knife, and was jailed because there was no place for him in a secure children’s home. Katie was three months into a 16-month sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving.

In January 2025, Sheriff Simon Collins KC published his Fatal Accident Inquiry findings into the two deaths, finding that a “catalogue of failures” had led to the deaths, and making 25 recommendations. Among them was that “SPS should actively pilot and review use of in cell ‘signs of life’ suicide prevention/monitoring technology in Polmont. SPS should not confine this pilot and review to Safer Cells but should also consider its use in standard cells.” The Sheriff added that the SPS should report the results of its pilot to the Scottish Government by January 2026.

Polmont is the only prison in Scotland holding young males aged between 18 and 21. The country no longer jails under-18s. Women aged 21 and above, and low-risk men, are also held at the establishment.