Lawyer calls for inquiry into Scot’s death in Israel

Questions asked over way Israeli police handled case after Kinross-shire woman died

One of Scotland’s leading lawyers says a fatal accident inquiry should be held into the death of a Kinross-shire woman in Israel.

Julie Pearson collapsed and died from internal bleeding on November 27 last year after a visit to the Dolphin guest house in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

The death of the 38-year-old came only a day after she was allegedly attacked by her on-off boyfriend Amjad Hatib who had previously spent a month in jail in May last year for attacking her.

A post-mortem report came to the conclusion she had died from a haemorrhage in her abdomen.

She also suffered from cirrhosis of the liver.

Pathologists said a blow could have triggered the internal bleeding but authorities claimed her death was not suspicious and did not need to be investigated further.

They closed the file on the death of the Scottish hotel worker, citing her drinking for fatal internal bleeding.

Her grieving family have since campaigned for a new inquiry into the investigation carried out by the Israeli police, claiming it had serious flaws.

Now they have backed Derek Ogg, one of the country’s top prosecutors, who said a new inquiry should take place in Scotland.

Asking for an FAI, Mr Ogg was critical of Israeli police and their failure to investigate the case as a possible homicide.

Mr Ogg said if the case had come into his hands he would have considered it to be a suspicious death and would have wanted it investigated further.

He said it looked as if basic police work did not proceed on the basis Julie’s death may have been suspicious.

Speaking to a national newspaper, Mr Ogg said: “It doesn’t sound to me like there’s been crime scene preservation and it doesn’t look to me that they’ve expended a lot of man hours in the crucial period very shortly after the discovery of the body.

“It looked a bit to me like the cops were saying ‘She’s an illegal (Julie’s tourist visa had expired), she’s an alcoholic, she’s fallen and hurt herself, she’s had a bleed and died, case closed’.

“In Scotland we would have taken this much, much more seriously.”

Julie’s family were heartened to hear what Mr Ogg had said. Her aunt Deborah said it confirmed the family’s suspicions that her death was suspicious and the police probe was “shambolic”. leclark@thecourier.co.uk

Julie Pearson died the day after she was allegedly attacked.