OFFICIALS JULIE’S DEATH LINKED TO BLOW

TRAUMA CAUSED FATAL BLEEDING Family finally receive Israeli post-mortem

Lynn McPherson A blow from her boyfriend could have caused the internal bleeding that killed a Scots woman in Israel, according to pathologists.

But, despite the possible link to his attack, police still refused to treat Julie Pearson’s death as a homicide.

Julie’s family have received the official post-mortem report, which revealed she suffered a massive haemorrhage in her abdomen.

It also said the 38-year- old, from Kinross- shire, suffered from liver cirrhosis linked to drinking, which may have contributed to the heavy bleeding.

Israeli pathologist Dr Ricardo Nachmann said he was unclear what caused the injury but it was possibly the result of a blow to her body.

Ju l ie died f rom idiopathic spontaneous int raper itoneal haemorrhage but her family claim the day before her death – on November 27 last year in the Red Sea diving resort of Eliat – she had been subjected to a beating by her on-off boyfriend Amjad Hatib.

He had served a month in jail in May 2015 for beating her.

The report, written in Hebrew, said Julie had a high percentage of alcohol in her blood when she died.

But it also revealed that blood spills found on Julie’s face, back and limbs may have been caused as a result of her being attacked.

Her family, who previously released a photo showing her lying in her coffin with cuts and bruises on her face to highlight their concerns, are convinced her death was caused by her violent partner.

Her aunt Deborah Pearson, 55, said: “It says the haemorrhage could be the result of an injury that didn’t have to be a powerful one. So if a person is weak, it could just take one blow to kill them.

“Amjad beat her the night before and was punching and kicking her in the stomach. I know her death was because of him. You don’t just haemorrhage for no reason.”

Deborah, who is trying to raise £ 2000 to fund a civil case in Israel, added: “I’m going to take it to a civil court in Israel to see if there’s a possibility the beatings contributed to her death. I have a lawyer in Israel and he was just waiting on the report.”

Pathologist Dr Stewart Hamilton, who also examined the findings, says while Julie had liver damage from heavy drinking, he didn’t think it was suff icient to be associated with spontaneous haemorrhaging.

The deput y chief forensic pathologist for the East Midlands said: “I remain of the view the most likely explanation for the intra-abdominal bleeding is trauma.

“The repor t makes reference to bruising on the abdomen so there has been trauma to the abdomen relatively recently.

“There is evidence of liver damage that can make one prone to easier bruising but not usually spontaneous haemorrhage.

“The blood alcohol level is 187mg/dl, which is just over twice the legal limit for driving in England. That isn’t really that high.”

The post-mortem on Julie’s body was carried out at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv.