‘Remember my daughter and the horror that she had to endure’: Mother of victim’s plea as new domestic violence law goes to MSPs

Scotland is set to change how domestic homicides and the suicide of the hidden victims of domestic violence will be investigated in future.

The proposals announced by Justice Secretary Angela Constance last week will be a comforting legacy for the grieving family of brave Adrienne McCartney who joined The Sunday Post’s campaign for change.

A victim of both domestic abuse and Scotland’s justice system, Adrienne’s own death two years ago at the age of 38, after taking a mixture of alcohol and drugs, including powerful painkillers first prescribed after her arm was injured by her husband, would be the subject of a review similar to a Fatal Accident Inquiry under the proposed laws.

Constance outlined her plans for the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill last Wednesday.

Her mother, also called Adrienne, said: “It’s heartbreaking my daughter isn’t here to see her final wishes for change come true.

“Nobody who read her story could ever forget why my daughter died.

“She would be relieved that her decision to speak out about the failures of the system led to these changes.”

© Jane Barlow/PA Wire

To the outside world, the mother of three had a perfect life.

Married to successful property developer, Aaron McCartney, pictures of their beautiful Irvine home and happy holiday snaps showed just one side of their marriage.

Adrienne told The Sunday Post that, behind closed doors, she led a miserable existence, terrorised, bullied and beaten by the burly husband she idolised.

Her harrowing story of despair and justice failures are part of the change Adrienne called for.

It was Adrienne who was taken away in a police car in front of her sobbing kids after accusations she had posted an abusive social media message in the midst of her torment.

Police held the traumatised mother in the back of their car for so long she wet herself.

Adrienne was never charged, but the incident destroyed her trust in the police.

When Aaron McCartney, now 41, was taken to court over the violent outburst on Boxing Day 2020 which finally ended their marriage – he allegedly threw Adrienne across the room, threw a bottle at her, smashed a mirror and put his foot through a glass door – the Procurator Fiscal agreed a plea deal, dropped the most serious charge and failed to put in place a Non Harassment Order.

Aaron was given a £420 fine which he insisted was for “kicking a door”, although a domestic abuse aggravator was included.

The event had been so shocking, Aaron’s own mother sent Adrienne a text saying: “I told him how hard he threw you across the room and I would have phoned the police on him.”

The Procurator Fiscal subsequently sent Adrienne an apology.

McCartney sent 30 laughing emojis.

When Adrienne was served with eviction papers, ordering her and the three children out of their home, it brought her to her knees. She said: “Aaron always controlled our finances.

“Just two weeks after that awful Christmas incident, I was told our house was, in fact, owned by his sister, and we were going to be evicted.

“I tried desperately to get a ­lawyer, but dozens turned me down as I was penniless and couldn’t access Legal Aid easily.”

As her life disintegrated, Adrienne begged for mental health support.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran referred her to an online course.

The brave mum turned to The Sunday Post where her interview gave a stark account of the reality domestic abuse victims face, including the almost 62,000 cases last year reported by police.

Adrienne revealed that on January 12, 2021, one of the ­coldest nights that year, the central heating in her home had been turned off.

Photographs of footprints in the garden leading to external gas and heating pipes and texts from her husband’s phone were shown to the police.

“Boom” said the first text before a second quickly followed: “Last Chance.”

Police officers told Adrienne the matter was “civil not criminal” and suggested she call the gas board.

Adrienne eventually complained to Police Scotland’s professional standards unit, detailing seven separate issues where, she claimed, officers let her down.

Barely a year later, Adrienne was dead.

She died after taking a mixture of alcohol drugs, including powerful painkillers first prescribed after her arm was injured by McCartney in a violent outburst.

Her mother, however, has never had any doubt about what killed her daughter.

Adrienne Ireland, a former director of nursing, believes whatever the direct cause of her daughter’s death, it led from the abuse she suffered and the failures of police and prosecutors.

Her daughter, she believes, was one of the many hundreds of women whose deaths are linked to domestic abuse but never appear on official statistics.

Adrienne Ireland, 63, said: “When the lawmakers finally vote to put the proposed new legislation into action, I want them to remember my daughter and the horror she endured because the system failed her in life and in death.

“I want them to make sure Adrienne is the last woman in Scotland to be failed this way.”

When asked about Adrienne’s death, Aaron McCartney said: “It’s a horrific tragedy, but I don’t understand what it’s got to do with me. What has what Adrienne done got to do with me? She died from a drug overdose.”

Scottish Conservative Pam Gosal, who is campaigning for a domestic abuse register, said Adrienne’s death was “tragic

She said: “She is one of far too many domestic abuse victims who have been failed by the systems meant to protect them.

“That is why I am progressing my plans to create a Domestic Abuse Register, and I urge MSPs of all parties to back it.”

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