Double tragedy as student takes own life after brother stabbed to death by uncle

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A family has been devastated by a double tragedy after a university student took her own life two years her brother was stabbed to death by their uncle.

Claire Fraser, from Orkney, passed away on November 20 while studying Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Police were called to the university campus on Garthdee Road after the alarm was raised early on Wednesday morning.

The 19-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

The teenager's brother William Fraser was stabbed 20 times in a fatal attack by their uncle, Erlend Fraser, in 2022.

Mum Fiona Fraser said her daughter had struggled with her mental health following the loss of her brother. She launched a public appeal for help in a fundraiser for her funeral.

She said: "Our beautiful daughter Claire, age 19, very devastatingly took her own life on 20th November when away from home at University. Claire had struggled terribly after her big brother William was brutally murdered in June 2022. She didn't have life insurance so funds are very much needed please to bury her in Orkney where she was born."

Family friend Fiona Annal told how the Frasers were "living through another nightmare" in the wake of a second tragedy.

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"We are numbed by the loss of Claire, who has lost her life this week whilst at Robert Gordon’s university," she said. "Claire lost her big brother William in 2022 in terrible circumstances in the Hope and understandably struggled to come to terms with his death in the years that followed.

"Her devastated family have endured so much pain and are living through another nightmare none of us can begin to imagine.

"We have started a gofundme page to help with costs towards Claire’s funeral here in Orkney, to bury their darling girl where she was born. Please help this lovely family who have endured so much."

Erlend Fraser, 51, repeatedly stabbed his nephew William Fraser in the attack in the village of St Margaret's Hope on June 19, 2022.

William had been with friends before ending up at his uncle's door that night. A relative and her partner later arrived to find blood on sofas and the floor, and the IT technician dead in the toilet.

At the time of the trial, Judge Lord Matthews heard the killing of William, who was just 21, had a devastating impact on family members of the deceased. His uncle originally faced a charge of murder, but his guilty plea to the lesser charge of culpable homicide was accepted by the Crown on the basis of diminished responsibility.

A court heard Erlend has a mental disorder in the form of a learning disability.

He was ordered to be held at a high security psychiatric hospital under a compulsion order last year following his conviction at the High Court in Edinburgh.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers were called to the Garthdee Road area of Aberdeen around 1.35am on Wednesday, 20 November, following the sudden death of a 19-year-old woman.

“There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

To donate to Claire's fundraiser, click here.

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