Lamara Bell update: Falkirk family to get over £1m compensation six years after her death

Lamara and her partner John Yuill (28) were involved in a road traffic incident when their car left the M9 near Stirling and hit a tree on July 5, 2015.

Despite a call being made to police, it took them three days to respond and when officers finally arrived at the scene, Mr Yuill was dead and Ms Bell later died in hospital at the age of just 25, leaving two young children without a mother.

Police Scotland pleaded guilty to “health and safety” failings at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this year.

At that time Police Scotland was fined £100,000 over the couple’s deaths, now the force will have to pay out over £1 million of damages to Lamara’s family after the conclusion of a subsequent civil case.

In a statement issued by the Bell family solicitors Digby Brown, Lamara’s loved ones said there was a “sense of peace” following the conclusion of the legal proceedings, but they still face a future without Lamara.

The family said: “Imagine chasing answers, recognition and justice for six years and all you get is silence then in the space of three months you get a conviction and a

civil settlement – it is fair say our thoughts and feelings are all over the place right now.

“Our pain and loss won’t stop just because the legal proceedings are over but there is at least a sense of peace that comes with their conclusion. However, that peace is fleeting because ultimately we are still without Lamara.

“We are without a daughter and sister and her children are without a mother – such an outcome cannot, and should not ever, go unheeded in a fair society and we are glad to finally have attained that which we sought.

“We’d like to thank our friends, family, community and legal team for all their support.”

David Nellaney, partner at Digby Brown, added: “It is unfortunate Police Scotland did not admit its failings sooner as it might have spared them unnecessary distress but at least we do now have a conclusion and the Bells can rightly focus on themselves and times ahead.”

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