Having worked at Peterhead prison whilst Bill was the Governor there, this came as a big shock.Ex-Scots jail chief is found dead in pool
Police launch inquiry into fate of former governor who began new life in Caymans
By Ryan Crighton
Published: 15/12/2009
Police on a Caribbean island have launched an investigation after the former governor of two north-east prisons was found dead in a swimming pool.
Paramedics in the Cayman Islands battled to revive Peterhead-born Bill Rattray, 57, after he was hauled unconscious from the water on Saturday, but they could not save him.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is investigating the death, but officers said there initially appeared to be no suspicious circumstances. The father-of-two is understood to have died of natural causes.
Mr Rattray started a new life in the Cayman Islands with his wife, Margaret, last year after seeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become commissioner of corrections and rehabilitation in the tax haven – which is a playground of the rich and famous.
He was governor at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen from 1991 to 1996 and was in charge at Peterhead Prison from 1996 to 2002.
In the Caribbean, his job was to apply modern prison methods to the care of about 230 prisoners, including murderers, rapists and robbers.
He noticed the vacancy while working as head of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) College in Falkirk. “This was an opportunity to do something entirely different with my life, but also to use my knowledge and skills in a different environment,” he said in October.
Tributes on a local news website claimed Mr Rattray has been under stress recently, according to reports.
The local prison system came under fire this year following the death of a 21-year-old who was killed by an inmate on work release.
The Cayman Islands government said it was “shocked and saddened” by the news of Mr Rattray’s death.
The acting deputy governor of the islands, Franz Manderson, said: “On behalf of the whole civil service, and especially Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service, we wish to extend our deepest condolences to Dr Rattray’s wife, Margaret, who has become a much-loved and respected school principal in North Side and Savannah, to his two children and his brother, and to Dr Rattray’s many friends here and in Scotland.”
Tom Fox, head of communications at the SPS, said: “Everybody here is in a state of shock. He was governor at Craiginches and Peterhead and he was also head of our training college.
“Bill worked his way up through the prison service and he was a well-liked, well-known and respected figure. Obviously our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
Peterhead South and Cruden councillor Sam Coull also paid tribute to Mr Rattray, whom he has known since childhood.
He said: “Bill took me around Craiginches when I was on a council fact-finding mission and he was a cheery, well-liked character. What you saw was what you got.”
Mr Rattray was planning to return to their north-east family home, near Ellon, when his contract expired in 2011. Neighbours said they believed the rest of his family had flown out to the Caribbean to be with Mrs Rattray.
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A local Peterhead lad made good, and a productive life cut short.
My sympathies go out to his family.
