Firefighters are not expendable.
STATEMENT – TUESDAY 3rd FEB 2026
I would like to thank you for being here today and to the public, to firefighters, and to all who believe in the fundamental human right to life – thank you for listening.
I will never ask anyone to pick a side. I will only ever ask people to stand on the side of safety, truth, and human life.
Barry Martin was a Scottish Firefighter, a father, and my husband. He went to work to keep other people safe, and he never came home.
For three years, my family has been actively seeking answers about how and why Barry died. Delays of this length are not just painful, they affect our basic human rights to truth, dignity, and justice, because grief does not pause while investigations stall.
I was driven to study Scots Law because of what happened to Barry, and I understand acutely what delay means – not just emotionally but legally. When a process remains unresolved for this long, the integrity of any future proceedings is placed at risk. Timely investigation is not a courtesy; it is a fundamental safeguard.
But this is not only about our family.
Firefighters across Scotland continue to be recruited into the Service without knowing what happened to Barry. They attend incidents every day without the full knowledge they deserve about his death, or about the risks they are expected to take.
Firefighters work within systems where orders are given and decisions are made that directly shape the risks they face. Those systems, and those decisions must be open to scrutiny.
Since Barry's death, we have heard repeated reference to the words “inherent risk.” “It comes with the job” is what we have read and heard. But inherent risk does not mean inevitability. It does not mean that loss of life is acceptable.
Firefighters accept the risk of danger. They do not consent to unnecessary or preventable death.
Firefighters are not expendable.
They have the same fundamental right to life as anyone else, and that right must be protected at work.
Barry Martin's death was not a consequence of the career he chose. We ask that it is never framed as a sacrifice.
Barry should never be reduced to a symbol. He was a person, and his life and death must never be made abstract. His death was the result of decisions that must be capable of examination.
This prolonged delay and continued inaction left me with a choice: remain silent, or act in the public interest. For our family, silence is not an option.
This is not about attacking a profession. It is about protecting the people who do that job. Standing on the side of safety also means standing on the side of accountability.
When decisions are made that put lives at risk, the law must be able to examine them – whoever made them, whatever role, and whatever rank.
As a family, we will continue to stand together.
We ask the public, firefighters, and their families to stand with us.
For safety, for truth, for your human rights, for Barry, and for every life that deserves protection at work, and every life lost that deserves answers.
Thank you
- Shelley Martin