In 1988 a vulnerable mentally ill young woman was committed to an NHS mental health hospital in Carlisle, North Cumbria. She was then groomed and taken advantage of by a 35yr old trainee male nurse. As a result she became pregnant. The trainee nurse, Robert Scott-Buccleuch, and his colleague, Dr T M Singh, the consultant psychiatrist treating her, arranged an abortion and withheld information to conceal what had occurred. On Friday 13th December 1991, that same young woman, more distressed and conflicted than when she had first been admitted to hospital in 1988, stepped in front a train at Rotherham railway station and ended her life.

We entrusted my sister Alison to the care of the NHS because she desperately needed professional help. But instead of being cared for, she was used to gratify the seedy desires of an unprincipled older man in a hospital that enabled and turned a blind eye to his behaviour.

In May 2025, after battling for decades to obtain justice for Alison, for a heartbreaking third time the Crown Prosecution Service blocked our efforts to prosecute Robert Scott-Buccleuch. They say a trial would not be in the public interest. This website tells the story of a failed quest to obtain justice and highlights the system-wide failures that have allowed a former NHS employee to avoid facing justice for committing serious crimes that had devastating consequences.

So what happened to Alison?

Lions, Liars, Donkeys and Penguins – The Killing of Alison, was published on 05th May 2020, it would have been Alison’s 54th birthday. You can order a copy HERE in Paperback or Kindle. An audio version is also available.