Tormentor of ISIS victim’s daughter is sent to prison
Cruel ex-boyfriend destroyed scrapbook
Andrew Murray A controlling boyfriend who tormented the daughter of ISIS victim David Haines over a six-month period and destroyed a scrapbook dedicated to the murdered aid worker was jailed for 21 months this week.
Twenty-two-year-old Andrew Murray of Perth was also made the subject of a non-harassment order prohibiting him from approaching or contacting Bethany Haines for a period of five years after he previously admitted to engaging in a course of conduct that put her in a constant state of fear or alarm.
Perth Sheriff Court heard last month Murray repeatedly accused Ms Haines of being unfaithful while they lived together in Coupar Angus and would regularly shout and swear at her as well as wreck her property in fits of anger and threaten to injure himself.
Depute fiscal Sue Ruta said Murray would also regularly check her computer and mobile phone for messages from males and also ordered Ms Haines to delete up to 50 male friends on Facebook.
He also ordered Ms Haines to stop wearing makeup and certain clothes when she went out, calling her all sorts of derogatory and demeaning names and destroying her confidence, the court heard.
It was said Ms Haines eventually left Murray but he then contacted her saying he had found her scrapbook dedicated to her dad containing photos of her and a former boyfriend attending her father’s funeral.
Mr Haines was murdered by ISIS terrorist Mohammed Emwaz in 2014.
Ms Ruta said Ms Haines went to retrieve the book only to find Murray had deliberately cut the head off her former boyfriend in the photos and coloured his body black to make it look like she was standing next to her father’s killer.
Sentencing Murray this week Sheriff Lindsay Foulis noted he had shown little contrition during interviews with social workers for a background report and that he seemed unaware of how serious his offending had been.
“The background report does not indicate an acceptance [or] recognition as to how serious your behaviour was,” he said. “There appears to be little acceptance of guilt on your part.”
In addition to imprisoning Murray for 21 months and imposing the non-harassment order Sheriff Foulis also broadened the order to prohibit him from posting any abusive or derogatory comments about Ms Haines on any social media platform.
He stopped short of banning Murray from using social media entirely, however, as had been suggested by depute fiscal John Malpass, insisting this would breach his human rights.