Location of screams wrongly recorded by 999 call handler before man died

The possible location of screams for help heard in a high-rise flat before a man plunged to his death was wrongly recorded during a 999 call, an inquiry has heard.

Jamie Forbes, 37, was held against his will in 18-floor Elphinstone Court in Aberdeen for two days in January 2024, before falling from a 12th floor window.

When police carried out door-to-door inquiries they were not able to trace where pleas had come from.

A call handler told the second day of a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) in Aberdeen he had wrongly recorded information from a caller about which storey the screams were coming from.

Lee Smith, 37, was jailed for eight years in December 2024 after admitting culpable homicide in relation to the case.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lady Hood heard the abuse inflicted on Forbes was so bad that he had no other option but to jump from the window.

Police later discovered the lock of the flat's door had been tampered with, meaning the window was the only route of escape.

Officers had found Smith washing up in the kitchen, and bloodstains throughout the flat.

He had repeatedly hit his victim with a hammer, and punched and kicked him during the attack.

On Wednesday, Callum Scott, a Police Scotland service adviser, told Gavin Burton, for the Crown, that he took an emergency call about screams being heard.

The caller, Gail Thomson, said she thought the screams were coming from about six floors down from the top of the building.

However, Scott, 28, instead recorded the information as six to eight floors up.

Questioned by Alan Rodgers, who was representing him, he accepted there had been a "recording error".

He agreed there had been a "miscommunication" between himself and the caller.

Scott explained that the incident had been flagged as needing an immediate response due to the fact someone was shouting for help.

PC William Bayliss was called to the scene.

He said information from people there led him and a colleague to go to the seventh floor of Elphinstone Court.

They also knocked on doors on the 5th, 6th and 8th floors. However he said they found no evidence of anyone in distress.

Jamie Forbes was later seen falling to his death.

Insp Rhona di Meola, from Police Scotland's professional standards department, said that, based on the information she received and reviewed, she thought officers on the ground did a "thorough" investigation at the time.

The first day of the FAI had heard a post mortem examination revealed multiple internal injuries as a result of the fall from height.

There were also sharp force injuries to his hands which were described as "classic defence-type injuries".

The FAI is being held in the civil annexe of Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

It is being held this week, followed by later submissions, before Sheriff Principal Andrew Miller then considers his determination.