Police apologise for failure to discover body in garage

A body found in a property in Boness was missing man Arnold Mouat. Police had been hunting for the 64-year-old for four weeks.

A relative found the body of Arnold Mouat, 64, in the roof space of the garage of his home in Bo'ness on August 5 2017, weeks after he was reported missing on July 7, the day after he was last seen.

Officers completed their search of the house, gardens, vehicle and garage in 40 minutes, spending five minutes searching the garage and gardens.

A post mortem examination found that Mr Mouat had been dead for some time when his body was discovered, with the death not suspicious.

Pirc found that the “inadequate search procedure” led to a prolonged missing person inquiry which it said extended the “uncertainty and distress” for the entire family.

Arnold Mouat was found in the garage at the property.

In a statement issued through Pirc, Mr Mouat’s family said: “The past eight months have been incredibly difficult for our family as we have tried to come to terms with the loss of a loving father and husband.

“We are aware of the Pirc report and note that a number of recommendations have been made. Going forward we hope that Police Scotland will look carefully at these recommendations and that valuable lessons have been learned.

“As a family, we are grateful for the support we have received but we would now ask for our privacy to be respected to allow us to come to terms with our loss in peace.”

An internal review of the incident by