A 17-year-old boy has died at Polmont Young Offenders Institute two years after the government pledged to stop sending under-18s to the facility.

The Scottish Prison service confirmed that Jonathan Beadle died on Saturday, but has given no further details.

A fatal accident inquiry – which is mandatory for any death in custody – will be held to examine the circumstances.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Every death, whether in prison custody or in our communities, is a tragedy for all those who knew and supported the individual.

“Following the death of someone in our care, Police Scotland are advised, and the matter reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Fatal Accident Inquiries are held in due course.”

It is understood that Jonathan had been convicted of offences including breach of the peace.

He had previously been in a secure children’s unit before being moved to Polmont.

The Scottish government said in March 2022 that 16 and 17-year-olds would no longer be placed in young offenders institutions.

It said it wanted to end the placement of under 18s in custody “without delay”, and pledged to fund “care-based alternatives” and shift the approach from “one of punishment to one of love and support”.

The announcement came after Scotland’s chief inspector of prisons, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, said sending 16 and 17-year-olds to Polmont – especially those who had not yet been convicted – was a breach of their human rights.

The Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill – which sets out that children under the age of 18 will no longer be sent to prison – received Royal Assent last month and became an act of parliament.

Separate legislation passed by Holyrood to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force on Tuesday.

A joint fatal accident inquiry (FAI) was held earlier this year into the deaths of Katie Allan, 21, and William Lindsay, 16, who both took their own lives at Polmont within months of each other in 2018.

Katie, a geography student at Glasgow University, was jailed for16 months for drink-driving after hitting a 15-year-old boy, who was knocked unconscious.

William, who had never been convicted of a crime, had only been sent to Polmont because a place could not be found for him in a secure children’s unit.

The purpose of an FAI is to determine the cause of death, the circumstances and to establish what reasonable precautions could have been taken.

A separate fatal accident inquiry was also recently held into the death of Jack McKenzie, who took his own life at Polmont on 3 September 2021.

He had been on remand at Polmont for rape and sexual assault charges – which he denied – since January of that year.

Sheriff Simon Collins, who heard both inquiries, is expected to make recommendations for change when he delivers his determination into the circumstances of all three deaths later in the year.

The purpose of an FAI is to establish whether the deaths could have been prevented.

It will also examine what precautions could be taken in future to try and stop young people from taking their own lives in prison.

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