Family of murdered mum continue fight for answers over 'major safeguarding lapse'

The family of a young woman from Stirling who was killed by her abusive boyfriend after he was released on bail to her flat say they need to see a full report into the circumstances of the case.

Experts identified a “major safeguarding lapse”, but Claire Inglis’s parents have only been provided with a summary of the findings.

They say they have many unanswered questions and are calling for a Fatal Accident Inquiry into her death.

Claire Inglis was 28 when she was murdered by her boyfriend, Christopher McGowan, in November 2021 during a brutal attack.

She was found to have 76 separate sites of injury when her body was discovered in her Stirling home.

McGowan is now serving life for a murder the judge called “beyond sadistic”.

He had only been with Claire for weeks, and he had a lengthy criminal record, but he was nonetheless released on bail multiple times to the home she shared with her young son.

An expert review into the circumstances of Claire’s case has been completed, but her parents, Fiona and Ian Inglis, have only been provided with a summary of the findings.

At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Conservative leader Russell Findlay described the summary as “truly damning”.

“It says that Claire and her son were ‘invisible in the system’ and the repeated granting of bail to Claire’s home was a ‘repeated safeguarding lapse’,” he told MSPs.

Findlay pressed the First Minister to release the report in full, and he insisted a major flaw at the heart of Scotland’s bail system is that social workers are not obligated to verify bail addresses.

“I’ll never have closure until I’m in the grave, but we need answers,” Fiona told STV news.

“We’re plodding on, four years down the line, it’s our third time here [at Scottish Parliament]. As her parents, do we not deserve answers?”

Fiona added: “If McGowan died in prison – today, tomorrow, whenever – there would be a Fatal Accident Inquiry the next day. That’s like a kick in the teeth for me for my daughter.

“Every day we have to live with the fact that Claire was brutally tortured and murdered, but even more distressing for me, every day and sticks in my throat is the fact that she could still be here.

“She could still be in my life. That really sticks in my stomach.”

Mr Inglis believes that if McGowan had not been bailed to Claire’s address, she would still be alive.

“He wasn’t allowed to stay in Claire’s house [on bail],” Mr Inglis said.

“So he wouldn’t have been there when he killed her that night. Claire would not have died that night in that house because he wouldn’t have been there.

“If they’d check these things, if [the court, police, and social workers] spoke to each other, she’d be alive.”

Swinney, who met Mr and Mrs Inglis in November 2024, said there “may be issues about data handling which cause constraints on the release of the full report”.

But he said if the report can be released, he would be “very happy for that to be the case”.

He also said he would ask Scotland’s top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, if there can be further dialogue with the family on the contents of the report “to make sure they can have a fuller understanding, to help them try to come to terms with the tragic loss they have suffered”.

He stressed it is only the Lord Advocate who can decide if a Fatal Accident Inquiry should be held, with the SNP leader saying: “As First Minister, I have to respect the independence of the Lord Advocate.”

On the issue of bail, the First Minister said the Scottish Government has already made changes, pointing to legislation passed at Holyrood.

Swinney said this makes clear “the court should specifically consider the protection of the victim from a risk of both physical and psychological harm before making the decision on bail”.

“In my view, that would provide the type of protection Mr Findlay is looking for, and that is already in statute.”