Demi's Law: Call for police to treat death after abuse as a potential murder

Demi’s parents John and Helen Simpson at home in Airdrie. — Demi Hannaway’s parents John and Helen Simpson at home in Airdrie.

Demi Hannaway’s family are campaigning for a new law to prevent domestic homicides being missed in future.

They are calling for “Demi’s Law” after experts warn inadequate police protocol means hundreds of domestic abuse deaths are being missed every year across the UK.

Demi’s mum Helen said: “We will live the rest of our lives grieving for our daughter, but if her death leads to a sea change in how domestic abuse deaths are treated in future it would be a lasting legacy for us to take comfort from.

“Demi spent her life helping other people wherever she could. She would fully approve of the changes we are asking for, so future victims are given better access to justice.”

Demi Hannaway case

Mum of two Demi, 23, was found dead at her Airdrie home in May, 2021.

Police Scotland deemed her death to be a suicide, but a Sunday Post campaign exposed a litany of failures by officers.

These included officers missing evidence, failing to interview witnesses, and accepting, without question, the version of events given to them by Demi’s partner, Andrew Brown, despite police knowing officers had previously been called out to domestic incidents at their home.

Demi’s family knew nothing of the sickening violence Brown had inflicted upon their eldest daughter because she had begged her young sisters to keep quiet.

When they arrived at the house where Demi died, they found clumps of her hair strewn around the property, walls spattered with blood, punch marks on a fridge and her mobile phone was found smashed under her bed with the SIM card removed.

Helen said: “The day our daughter died was the same day we discovered the man we had welcomed into our home and treated like a son had been choking her and beating her.

“Andrew Brown had been so good at concealing his true nature from us, we never dreamed he was a devil in disguise.

“Police insisted Demi had taken her own life, hanging herself with black bin bags from a shaky curtain hook in her bedroom.

“But nothing added up. When we saw the house where Demi died for ourselves, there were so many pieces of evidence that pointed to her possibly being murdered we couldn’t understand why police had immediately insisted she had taken her own life. That’s why we need a change in the law.”

Demi’s Law

Explaining what that change would mean, Helen said: “In future, when police attend a scene where there is loss of life and there is any previous history of domestic abuse, they are required to treat the case as a potential murder and carry out the forensic tests and forensic postmortem Demi was denied because they’d written her death off as suicide.”

Brown, 33, was eventually jailed for previously attacking Demi, but he was never charged in connection with her death.

Following our hard-hitting campaign, the Lord Advocate ordered Demi’s death to be reinvestigated by an expert team of prosecutors.

Helen said: “Without the Sunday Post and MSP Claire Baker we would never have been given any hope of getting justice for Demi.”

One of the world’s top experts on missed and staged homicides, Professor Jane Monckton-Smith, backed the family’s call for Demi’s Law and said: “This case hit every single red flag imaginable, but police failed to act and treat it as a possible homicide. A change in the law is needed to prevent cases like this in future.”

Demi begged sister Sarah not to tell of the abuse.

Demi’s family want every scene where a victim has died to be treated as a potential murder scene with a full forensic response when there is any previous history of domestic abuse, and for courts to introduce registers to rigorously keep track of every single convicted abuser.

They want domestic abuse experts to attend loss of life scenes to support families and be part of new police protocol.

And they want domestic abuse experts to accompany police officers in future when they deliver official warnings about the past history of new partners.

MSP Claire Baker who fully supports the call for change said: “Demi’s Law would prevent future repeats of the failures which surrounded the tragic death of this young mother, and it would be an apt legacy to help other families.

“I know Justice Minister Angela Constance is determined to make changes to how we respond to domestic abuse, so I will be writing to ask if we need a change in the law to adopt what Demi’s family are calling for, or whether she will agree to adopt what I believe are very reasonable improvements to the system.

“If the Justice Secretary advises we need a new Bill to make these proposals a legal requirement, I’m confident I would get cross-party support.”