Woman assaulted by police officer partner calls for law change

Annie Hirdman claims her former partner looked her up on a police database.

A woman who was assaulted by her police officer partner wants the time-limit to claim compensation scrapped for domestic abuse survivors.

Annie Hirdman's former partner Fraser Ross was convicted of assault in 2021.

She also claims he looked her up on a police database and found details of previous abuse. But the Crown Office said there was not enough evidence to prosecute this alleged data breach.

And Police Scotland said she was too late to claim compensation.

The Scottish government said it was working to deliver the recommendations of an independent review into police complaints handling.

Ms Hirdman met Ross in 2013.

She told the BBC he was initially kind, but as time went on he became more controlling and abusive.

She started to make secret recordings of him, including one where he tried to blame her for his violence.

Ms Hirdman said she called the police in 2019 when she thought she was going to die.

She said: "He tried to strangle me and I had to call the police, which gave me a lot of fear because he always told me if I phoned the police I would go to jail because I wouldn't be believed."

Fraser Ross was convicted in April 2021

Fraser Ross was convicted at Hamilton Sheriff Court in April 2021 and sentenced to 250 hours' unpaid work, placed under supervision for three years and given a six-year non-harassment order.

Ms Hirdman said he told her in 2013 or 2014 that he had looked up information about her on a police database and discovered information about a previous abusive relationship.

She believes that gave him the confidence to abuse her without fearing she would report him.

She said: "It gave him knowledge of my vulnerabilities that he then used to abuse me for as long as he did, and destroy me to the point I now have injuries that are probably going to last a long time.

She said the alleged data breach was one of the biggest aspects of her case.

Police Scotland said it received a complaint in February 2021 about an officer using police systems unlawfully and it investigated and submitted a report to the procurator fiscal.

But the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service told Ms Hirdman there was "insufficient evidence to establish the state of knowledge/training the officer received in relation to data protection requirements at the date of the alleged offence".

Annie Hirdman met Ross, from Motherwell, in 2013

The Crown Office also told her the particular circumstances of this case were not in the public interest to prosecute.

Ms Hirdman says at this point she was in "disbelief" but with criminal proceedings for the alleged data breach at an end she tried to claim compensation from Police Scotland.

The force said her claim was time-barred.

A letter from a Police Scotland lawyer in December 2022 said: "In Scotland you have three years from the date which you knew or ought to have known that injury, loss or damage was suffered to bring a claim for compensation."

Ms Hirdman said she was in no position to safely report the alleged data breach while she was still in an abusive relationship.

She told the BBC: "That time bar isn't really set for any victim or survivor, that time bar is to protect the people who have committed the crime so it can't go on forever for them."

She is calling for the Scottish government to scrap the time bar for abuse victims.

Public interest

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "Whilst the law of limitation sets time limits in which all civil proceedings should be raised as usually three years from the date that loss or harm was suffered, the courts have a discretion to over-ride these time limits where they are persuaded to do so."

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said "careful consideration" was given to any reports of alleged criminal conduct.

A spokesperson said: "Criminal proceedings will be raised if the reports contain sufficient evidence of a crime and if it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so."

Fraser Ross resigned from Police Scotland in July 2021 more than two months after he was convicted.

Police Scotland said it could only dismiss a police officer for gross misconduct after it had carried out a conduct investigation and proceedings.

A spokesperson said: "The officer resigned in July 2021 before misconduct proceedings were concluded.

"All officers and staff are required to conduct themselves in line with our values and those who reject what we stand for don't belong in Police Scotland. We have no ability under current conduct regulations to prevent an officer from resigning."

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact the BBC action line for help and support.