SENIOR police officers have reassured the father of tragic Scott Calder that they will give him answers about what happened to his son.
Brian Calder met with Chief Superintendent Lesley Clarke and Kate Jamieson, Detective Superintendent this week, 23 weeks after his son was found dead in East Lothian.
Scott was found dead on a beach in Longniddry, having been at a beer festival with friends on October 13 last year.
The Masters student was highly intoxicated and was seen staggering along a country road having become separated from friends after the event.
Police picked him up in their car, assessed him and decided he was safe to be left alone, before dropping him at a remote bus stop without a phone or wallet. He was found dead around a mile away the following morning.
Since then, Scott's dad Brian and mum Karen have been campaigning for answers about what happened to their son that night and have asked Police Scotland why officers thought he was safe to be left alone.
They say they are yet to find out the answers to their questions.
However following the meeting this week, Brian said he feels "a sense of hope" that he will finally discover what happened to his son.
He was joined by Patrick Mcguire, his lawyer from Thompson's solicitors, who is representing the family in their fight for justice.
He said: " I hope that the two officers i met keep their word, and they do give us answers. That's what we have wanted all along. This is not a witch-hut, it's not about blaming the police. We just want to know what happened to Scott and I feel more positive now that we will get the answers we are looking for. Nothing anyone xcan say will bring Scott back, I know that, but we just want to do all we can to find out the truth."
Brian had flown in from America, where he now lives, specifically for the meetings after becoming frustrated with a lack of information from both the police and the Crown Office about his son's death.
Chief Superintendent Lesley Clark said: “Police Scotland’s sympathies remain with Scott Calder’s family and friends. I met with Mr Calder's father to personally express my condolences and reiterate Police Scotland's commitment to fully discuss the circumstances surrounding Scott's tragic death with the family on the conclusion of enquiries requested by the Procurator Fiscal. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal service spokesman said: "The Procurator Fiscal has received a report in connection with the death of a 23 year-old man in Longniddry Bents, East Lothian on 14 October 2018.
“The investigation into the death, under the direction of Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU), is ongoing and the family will continue to be kept updated in relation to any significant developments."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here