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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Neil Pooran & Christina O'Neill

Family of East Kilbride nurse murdered by partner call for urgent government inquiry into death

The family of Louise Aitchison, who was murdered two years ago, have urged MSPs to support their call for an inquiry into her death to begin quickly.

The 33-year-old nurse died after being strangled and her throat cut by her partner Darryl Paterson at the home they shared on April 28, 2020.

A damning probe by police watchdogs concluded that officers failed to act on a warning that could have saved her life.

The force later admitted a number of errors in the weeks before her murder, including failing to inform her of Paterson's previous domestic abuse convictions.

Her mother Caroline Lyon, along with her brother Sean Aitchison and sister Stephanie Aitchison, met MSPs in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday as a cross-party group gathered for photographs to show their support.

The family is calling for the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into her death to begin as a matter of urgency. The Crown Office has agreed that the FAI can take place.

Louise's case was also brought up during First Minister's Questions on the two-year anniversary of her death.

Nicola Sturgeon said: "I hope [an FAI] give the family answers and comfort.

"For my part I will continue to ensure the government acts in all possible ways to do everything it can to protect women from domestic abuse.

"I do believe that Louise's family's bravery and courage at such a sad time - and on such a sad day for them - will help with that."

"I didn't know Louise but I am sure not just that she was a wonderful young woman but I am sure she would be very proud of her family today."

Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon told the PA news agency later: "I think it's quite possible that the law needs to be strengthened.

"Clearly, as a society, we need to do more to eradicate male violence against women."

She added: "As we heard from the First Minister, it's really important that fatal accident inquiries can happen quickly because it would be really cruel if the family had to wait years and years for answers.

"So I think the call to action today is that this needs to happen as a matter of urgency so that lessons can be learned and that learning can be applied and lives can be saved.

"I think that will be Louise Aitchison's legacy."

Louise had just been moved to a new home in East Kilbride after being stalked and attacked by another man, but she was soon targeted by Paterson.

When police visited the flat on March 24, 2020, they believed she could be at risk given his history of violence and domestic abuse.

An officer submitted a “Power to Tell” application under the Domestic Abuse Disclosure Scheme which allows potential victims of abusers known to police to be warned of their violent history.

However, an officer and a detective inspector wrongly assessed the risk as low and failed to record the risk assessment on the database.

More than two weeks later, it was agreed Louise should be told about Paterson’s history but officers had failed to include her current mobile number and address when recording the decision on the database. They also failed to give it an incident number or make clear the disclosure was still outstanding to anyone accessing the report.

The mistakes would ensure that she was never contacted and never warned, putting her in grave danger.

A 999 call made by Louise on that fateful day of April 28, 2020, led to officers removing Paterson from her flat, but there was no warning about his history.

Within an hour of leaving, Paterson returned with a knife inflicting horrific injuries on Louise, ending her life.

Five days after the murder, the Lord Advocate asked the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to investigate police contact with Louise before her death.

Paterson later admitted killing the dental nurse at the home they shared in East Kilbride , South Lanarkshire. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Police Scotland have admitted they failed to pass on the information and have apologised to Ms Aitchison's family.

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