We haven’t grieved and until we get justice, we never will: Parents of Kirsty Maxwell’s anguish after her mysterious death in Spain

THEIR lives are on hold, their questions are unanswered and their lost daughter is in their thoughts every minute of every hour.

Fourteen months have passed since Kirsty Maxwell fell to her death from a balcony in Benidorm in still unexplained circumstances but, for her parents, it feels like yesterday.

Denise and Brian Curry say their lives have been turned upside down since their 27-year-old daughter died.

But, speaking at their home in Livingston, they insist they have not yet grieved for Kirsty because their every waking moment is consumed by the need to win justice for her.

Dad Brian, 59, and mum Denise, 54, said Kirsty had been “full of life, and laughter”.

Brian said: “She was just always laughing and smiling. She loved her friends, and was the person you could talk to about anything.

“She would always be more concerned about other people than herself, she’d always ask how you were.”

Kirsty, 27, had married husband Adam in a fairytale wedding in Cyprus just six months before she fell to her death from an apartment block on April 29, 2017, while on a hen do in Benidorm with friends.

As a youngster, Kirsty was a talented gymnast and enjoyed sports, even becoming a Scottish champion in taekwondo.

As she got older, she most enjoyed spending time with her family, friends and her dog – a pug called Phoebe.

Denise said: “We have not grieved. Not at all. It’s the only thing we think about, 24/7. I just don’t want to go out anymore. I don’t want to enjoy myself. It’s almost like guilt. It feels wrong. Our whole lives have been turned upside down. All we think about is Kirsty and getting justice. We need to know what happened.”

Brian said: “The only way we get through the day is by changing hats, that’s what we call it.

“When we get up in the morning, we put on our work hat and when we come home, the first thing Denise asks me is if we’ve got any emails.

“You have got to compartmentalise yourself during the day. That’s the only way to get through. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t cope at all, but it is very difficult.”

The couple, along with Kirsty’s younger brother Ryan and her husband Adam, have been fighting for answers as to what happened on the night the Livingston woman died.

They have been joined by a former Strathclyde police detective, David Swindle, who is reviewing the case in search of new information.

His investigation is the focus of a documentary to be aired on BBC Scotland next week, which centres around Kirsty’s death and the death of another Scot abroad, Craig Mallon, who was killed by a single punch while on a stag party in Lloret de Mar.

The detective has obtained police images from inside the apartment where Kirsty fell, along with statements given by five Nottingham men who were staying there.

The reasons why Kirsty, who was staying two floors below them, ended up in the room are still unknown, and the men have so far remained silent about what they know.

One of the group – Joseph Graham – was arrested on suspicion of homicide but was released after two days, while his friends were recalled to court three months later but refused to answer questions.

Footage of the private hearing, shows the men – Callum Northridge, Anthony Holehouse, Daniel Bailey and Ricky Gammon – step up to a microphone before stating: “I will only answer questions from my lawyer.”

Spanish police have ruled the tragedy as an accident, however parents Brian and Denise say their investigation has been “a shambles”.

Brian said: “It’s utterly disgraceful. There is a systemic failure within the Spanish judicial system from the top to the bottom.

“First of all they were trying to blame Kirsty and even asked us if she was a racist, because one of the men in the apartment was black.

“Then they said ‘Maybe she was frightened of big men’.

“Every time we ask for evidence, everything went missing, was destroyed, or rejected. They destroyed Kirsty’s clothes, saying it was unhygienic to keep them because they were covered in blood.

“The Foreign Office could have done a lot more as well. If we were celebrities, or more high profile, they might have helped to fund an investigation or at least done something. Because we’re just ordinary working people, we’ve had nothing.”

The family were able to obtain a seven-minute CCTV clip of Kirsty returning to her room on the night she died, but officers and the owners of the apartment complex claimed the rest of the footage had been destroyed.

Another tragic video taken by a friend who was sharing a room with Kirsty shows the 27-year-old asleep, snoring deeply, just 50 minutes before she fell to her death.

Denise said: “We just want answers. We want justice. We promised her we would never stop fighting, and we won’t.”

 

Five friends with different stories but no comment

Kirsty Maxwell’s parents have urged the five men staying in the apartment where their daughter died to break their silence.

Joseph Graham, Anthony Holehouse, Ricky Gammon, Callum Northridge and Daniel Bailey, from Nottingham, were quizzed by police over the tragedy last year.

Mr Graham was arrested and spent two days in jail, but was later released and has denied any involvement in Kirsty’s death.

The other men have also refused to comment on the incident, despite there being discrepancies in their statements about what happened on the night.

Brian said: “I just want to ask them what happened. What was your part in where Kirsty was, where were you, what happened?

“We have seen their statements, which all look like a ‘frequently asked questions’ document. Even then they couldn’t get it right, there are discrepancies.

“We were hoping when they went back to court last July they would speak but all they have done is prolonged our agony.

“If there was one of them involved in Kirsty’s death, the rest are now complicit. In our view, they are now all complicit, every single one.”

Denise said: “If they have nothing to hide, then speak out. Clear your own name. Please just help us understand what happened.”

The group of men are understood to have been part of a larger group of 50, who were in Benidorm celebrating a friend’s birthday.

Some were taking cocaine, drinking alcohol and using the services of a prostitute on the night Kirsty died.

It is believed that Joseph Graham, who answered the door, may have thought Kirsty was the sex worker and let her into the room.

In a statement to the police, Mr Graham told how he said “The girl has jumped”.

He also stated he was not at the balcony when Kirsty fell, and only went there when he realised she was not in the corridor.

However, his pal Callum Northridge stated that Mr Graham “was with the girl when he said she jumped. It was he who said she had jumped”.

Mr Northridge said he couldn’t see the balcony from where his room was in the apartment. Mr Graham has denied any involvement in Kirsty’s death, with the other men saying it was a “tragic accident”.