An injury Emily Drouet, 18, sustained at the hands of ex-boyfriend Angus Milligan
The family of a law student who killed herself while at university are suing her ‘controlling and violent’ ex-boyfriend.
Emily Drouet, 18, was found dead inside her halls of residence in Aberdeen in March 2016 after deciding she was unable to escape from her abusive relationship.
Angus Milligan, 23, pleaded guilty to assault, threatening and abusing her using abusive and offensive language and sending offensive, indecent, obscene and menacing texts and was sentenced to community service in 2017.
Now, Miss Drouet’s mother Fiona, 47, has launched a substantial damages claim to show that Miss Drouet ‘isn’t responsible for her death’.
Mrs Drouet, who said the campaign isn’t about the money, told The Sun: ‘Emily was subjected to a campaign of abuse and violence.
‘We want to get justice for her as we feel we didn’t get it through the criminal courts.’
Mr Milligan has been given a court summons, but he denies responsibility.
Miss Drouet died eight days after Angus Milligan, a former public schoolboy from a family of prominent lawyers, turned up at her student halls of residence and choked her in a jealous rage.
She had arrived at the University of Aberdeen to begin her law degree only six months earlier.
Brilliant law student Miss Drouet (left) died eight days after Mr Milligan (right), a former public schoolboy from a family of prominent lawyers, turned up at her student halls of residence and choked her in a jealous rage
Emily had arrived at the University of Aberdeen to begin her law degree only six months before she died
Miss Drouet’s mother Fiona, 47, (left) has launched a substantial damages claim to show that Emily ‘isn’t responsible for her death’
He was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.
Mrs Drouet, and her husband Germain, said Milligan had ‘preyed on Emily’s innocence and kindness’ and that their ‘naive’ daughter was subjected to weeks of verbal, physical and psychological abuse before she took her own life.
Milligan, from Edinburgh, is from a distinguished family. His late grandfather, Jim Milligan, was regarded as one of Scotland’s most respected judges, while his grandmother, Betty, was a descendant of the Fife-born philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
He attended three private schools in Edinburgh, including Fettes College, Tony Blair’s old school, before he enrolled at Aberdeen, where he was described by students as ‘the alpha male on the campus’.
The couple had started dating after meeting during their first semester at the university in 2015, but their relationship soured after Milligan was told his girlfriend had been unfaithful.
Milligan became angry and assaulted Miss Drouet at the halls, where both students had a room.
Eight days later, the 18-year-old, who was from Glasgow, took her own life in her bedroom – shortly after Milligan was seen visiting her.
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