Calls for non-fatal strangulation offence to 'give survivors justice they deserve'

The mother of a student who took her life after being subject to abuse, including non-fatal strangulation, is urging MSPs to make it a new, stand-alone offence.

Fiona Drouet is campaigning to change the law following the death of her daughter Emily in 2016.

The 18-year-old law student was subjected to abuse and violence by her boyfriend before being found dead in her halls of residence in 2016.

Emily’s former boyfriend Angus Milligan was later convicted of physically and verbally abusing the teenager and was subsequently expelled from the university.

He admitted to choking and slapping Emily as well as assaulting and threatening her during a campaign of abuse.

Fiona Drouet is now urging ministers to make non-fatal strangulation a stand-alone offence to help deter offenders in the future.

“We are looking at an exceptionally serious crime that merits a law in itself, to be recognised as exceptionally high risk,” she told MSPs on Wednesday.

“It is very different to other forms of abuse.”

Non-fatal strangulation is currently dealt with under the common law of assault in Scotland or under the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act.

Ms Drouet said creating a new offence could help educate people about the crime and also deter offenders.

She told MSPs that when a person has the oxygen supply to their brain restricted, “they are going to have an automatic response of fighting, literally fighting for their life, something that is hugely traumatic”.

She described it as being “like a near-death experience”.

The mum stood in front of Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee and read text messages her daughter had sent to friends before her death.

In the messages, Emily said about her abuse: “I was so scared, I thought I was going to die”.

In another message, she said: “I am so scared that I think I want to die.”

“If we have a stand-alone crime saying that was non-fatal strangulation, I think potentially it acts as a strong deterrent, a stronger message,” Fiona said.

“I’m worried any other approach minimises the severity and risk of the crime and doesn’t give victims, survivors the justice that they absolutely deserve.”

‘Improvements in Northern Ireland have been immense’

Non-fatal strangulation has already been made a stand-alone offence in the other nations of the UK, with detective superintendent Lindsay Fisher of the Police Service of Northern Ireland telling the committee about the impact there when new laws came in in June 2023.

“The improvements that having a stand-alone offence have been immense,” she told MSPs

“Within three days of the legislation going live, we had not only used the new stand-alone offence, but we had somebody appearing in court having been charged for it.”

Dr Emma Forbes, national lead for domestic abuse in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said they are “worried” by anecdotal evidence about the “increased prevalence” of non-fatal strangulation particularly amongst young people.

She told the committee that almost two-fifths of the 136 cases COPFS received from Police Scotland in March, which are being prosecuted under the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act, involved non-fatal strangulation.

However, Dr Forbes insisted Scotland has “effective legislation at the moment”.

She accepted there are compelling reasons to create a specific offence of non-fatal strangulation saying that this would raise public awareness, which urgently needs to be done, and would also provide improved data on the number of such crimes.

But she added: “We have a very strong foundation in our law in Scotland and I would worry about the unintended consequences of a specific offence, not least because it would be more difficult evidentially to prove.”

At the moment, Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee is considering a petition from Ms Drouet to make non-fatal strangulation a standalone criminal offence in Scotland.

MSPs on the committee will listen to evidence from a variety of sources.

If they decide that it should be a stand-alone offence, they can invite the Scottish Government to reflect on the evidence and ask if they have any plans to make non-fatal strangulation a standalone offence in Scotland.