Family want new inquiry into abuse victim's death

The family of a young mum who died four years ago are demanding police open up an investigation over claims her death might not have been suicide.

Demi Hannaway, from Airdrie, died in May 2021 after being the subject of physical and mental abuse at the hands of her partner Andrew Brown.

Her family now say police were too quick to conclude that the 23-year-old had killed herself.

Andrew Brown, 33, was later jailed for sending her abuse and threats which were only discovered by her family after her death.

They believe his account of what happened in the hours leading up to her death was never questioned by officers despite a number of inconsistencies.

Brown was jailed for 43 months at Airdrie Sheriff Court in May after he admitted threatening and abusive behaviour.

Demi's family have lodged a 32-point formal complaint that highlights what they say are serious concerns over the police response.

Issues identified by the family include:

• officers taking an hour to arrive at Demi's home.
• claims that Brown told a police officer it was "all his fault"
• evidence, they say, of a violent struggle in the house.

Her phone was also found, by her family, under her bed smashed with the sim card missing after police left.

Her mother Helen Simpson said: "We aren't asking for police to reopen the investigation because they never did so in the first place.

"We believe – and it's hard to say out loud – that he murdered her."

The issue of suicides after prolonged domestic abuse has been brought into sharp focus in recent weeks after a number of high profile cases including the death of Kiena Dawes, whose former partner Ryan Wellings was jailed last week for assault and coercive behaviour.

But there are also rarer cases where domestic abuse killings are staged as suicide.

Campaigners want police to treat all sudden, unexpected deaths where the victim has suffered domestic abuse, as potential femicide.

A Home Office report in 2015 looked at 32 unexpected deaths that police had concluded were not suspicious but were then re-examined by forensic pathologists.

Ten transpired to be killings and a further five were suspicious and required further investigation.

Demi's family believe her case could be similar.

"We have raised our concerns with police," said Helen. "We do not believe Demi took her own life.

"That is based on her character and personality but it is also based on what we found in her home after her death and what we learned in the days and weeks afterwards.

"The police should have found and learned the same things but, instead, they arrived too late, left too soon, and completely failed our daughter."

Brown was jailed for 43 months at Airdrie Sheriff Court in May after admitting threatening and abusive behaviour after Demi's sister Caitlin accessed her social media following her death.

She discovered abuse and threats from Brown spanning months including one wishing Demi was dead.

Her other sister Sarah, now 17, also says she witnessed abuse.

She said: "I saw a lot with Demi and Andy growing up.

"I think she was scared of Andy. She had two beautiful children by him. I think she felt stuck in that situation.

"I was there most of the time and saw what he was doing to her. It wasn't nice to see or hear."

Demi died at about 06:00 on 13 May 2021 at the home she had shared with Brown, who had been her partner for five years.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "A complaint has been received and is being progressed by our Professional Standards Department.

"It would be inappropriate to comment further while this is ongoing and a response will be sent to the complainers in due course."