No sentence will ever be long enough
Parents’ agony as murderer of ‘wonderful and beautiful’ daughter, 21, is jailed for life
THE devastated parents of a woman murdered by her ex-fiancé yesterday spoke of the loss of their ‘wonderful and beautiful’ daughter as her killer was jailed for life.
Frazer Neil, 25, could not accept his relationship with Hannah Dorans was over and lured her to his Edinburgh flat.
There he choked the 21-year-old to death with a dressing-gown cord.
Witnesses said they heard Miss Dorans pleading for her life as her ‘controlling and manipulative’ killer attacked her.
Yesterday, as he was ordered to serve at least 19 years behind bars, her parents Keith and Moira Dorans, both 49, spoke of their devastation.
In a statement issued though police, the couple, from Dalkeith, Midlothian, said: ‘No sentence will ever be long enough for us. The life of our wonderful daughter was brutally taken from her and our lives are for ever changed.
‘Hannah was a beautiful person. Her life was ended far too soon but she will never be forgotten by those who loved and cared for her.’
During a phone call to emergency services Neil had admitted killing Miss Dorans – but claimed: ‘I didn’t mean it.’
He was found guilty earlier of murdering her during an attack at a flat in Hutchison Road, Edinburgh, on February 11 last year. He was acquitted of raping her.
Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, judge Lady Scott said Neil was possessive and controlling before Miss Dorans ended their relationship.
He then bombarded her with ‘an avalanche’ of about 800 texts as well as messages and calls including declarations of love and accugoal sations of infidelity. The judge said: ‘She was only 21 years old, much loved and full of kindness. Her family have been left absolutely devastated and forever bereft. This was a vicious and violent means of causing death.’
The court heard yesterday that care support worker Miss Dorans had been close to reaching her of training to be a paramedic when Neil took her life. They had met while first aid volunteers and became engaged in 2015.
However, Miss Dorans had ended their four-year relationship shortly before she was killed.
Neil lured her to his flat by threatening to destroy insurance documents she needed after hearing she had dated another man.
Having searched for information about culpable homicide the day before the murder, he called emergency services after his deadly attack, saying ‘I’ve killer her, I’ve killer her’. But he claimed not to remember what had happened.
Neil, who had claimed that he and Miss Dorans had a shared interest in Fifty Shades of Grey-type sex games, later contacted her parents to ‘help arrange’ her funeral. Her mother recalled feeling ‘numb’ when she read the Facebook message. Lady Scott admonished him for causing distress to her parents by messaging them over social media while he was on bail on March 1, 2017.
Defence counsel Brian McConnachie, QC, said that Neil had great difficulty coming to terms with the breakdown in his relationship and in the early stages made ‘some kind of attempt on his own life’.
Detective Inspector Stuart Alexander, of the police major investigation team, said: ‘My thoughts are with Hannah’s family at what is a really difficult time for them.
‘Neil has been shown to be a dangerous and manipulative individual who preyed on Hannah’s trusting and caring nature.’
‘Dangerous and manipulative