Family 'unable to grieve' PC's death due to delays

Hannah Byrne's family say they want to know what happened in her final moments

The family of a Surrey Police officer who died on holiday say they have been unable to grieve for her in the two years since her death due to delays investigating her final moments.

Hannah Byrne, from Horley, died aged 22 on the first night of her holiday in Corfu on 1 September, 2023 when she suffered a fatal head injury after falling several metres.

Her mother, Sarah Warner, claims two people who were with Hannah before her death have still not been spoken to by Greek police, describing the investigation as "extremely slow".

Ms Warner told BBC South East: "The last two years have been really hard, we try and live by the motto 'what would Hannah do'?"

She said: "Hannah enjoyed life and that's what we keep saying to each other, we owe it to Hannah to live good lives, to go on and live our lives.

"But it's really hard when we don't know what happened to her. We're trying our best."

Hannah was a third generation police officer, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandfather.

An inquest into her death was delayed in May pending more information from Greek authorities, and is now due to take place in November.

Dorking and Horley MP Chris Coghlan has called for the UK government to intervene with the Greek authorities to ensure that justice is served, in a letter to a Foreign Office minister.

Hannah Byrne was an officer with Surrey Police

Ollie Byrne, Hannah's brother, said he remembered his sister very fondly but "with deep sadness because her life was cut so short".

He said he had "not really come to terms" with her death, adding that he felt some guilt.

"When you're having a happy day, and you think, how can I be happy when that's happened?" he said.

He hoped the family could properly grieve when they had more information.

"You just want to know the last couple of minutes of her life were alright and she wasn't in any harm," he added.

'A disservice to Hannah'

Ms Warner said the family were initially told Hannah had tripped over and banged her head on some railings, then found out two days later that she had fallen from a building roof.

The family have been told that on the night out in Corfu, Hannah had become separated from her friend and got lost on the way back to her apartment.

She had come across two people she had met earlier in the evening, and was seen climbing a ladder to the roof of a building with them.

"Then a few minutes later those two people are seen climbing back down the access ladder and Hannah was found dead the following morning by a passer-by on the floor by the apartment block," Ms Warner added.

"We've now been waiting two years for those two people to be spoken to, to find out exactly what happened in Hannah's last few moments of her life."

She said it felt like a "disservice" to her daughter not to find out exactly what had happened.

"Any parent, if the same had happened to their son or daughter, they'd want to know that they'd done anything possible to find out the truth," she added.

The Greek Police said prosecutors were prohibited from disclosing information regarding cases.

Hannah's family are looking for answers regarding her final moments

Ms Warner said the Foreign Office had initially supported the family, but since the beginning of 2024, it had told them it was unable to do anything to help because it was a Greek investigation.

"The last year and a half, the Foreign Office have really let us down," she added.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said it was supporting the family of a British woman who died in Greece and was in contact with the local authorities.