The devastated family of a student who took her own life at university in Aberdeen have raised almost £10,000 to repatriate her body back home to Orkney. Claire Fraser had struggled with her mental health after her brother, William, was stabbed to death by their uncle in a brutal slaying two years ago.
Claire, 19, passed away on Wednesday, November 20, while studying at Robert Gordon University. Police were called to the campus on Garthdee Road after the alarm was raised early that morning.
The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene. Heartbroken mum Fiona previously told how her daughter had struggled to come to terms with her “big brother’s” tragic death.
Claire’s brother, William Fraser, was stabbed 20 times in a fatal attack by their uncle, Erlend Fraser, in 2022. The distraught family launched a fundraiser to bring Claire’s body back to her native Orkney.
And Fiona has thanked those who have generously donated to the GoFundMe page, which has raised more than £9,600 – far beyond the initial £4,000 target. The mum wrote on the fundraiser: “A very massive thank you from our family for all the amazing support, so kind and [we are] overwhelmed.”
As we previously reported, Fiona launched the fundraiser to pay for Claire’s funeral on her home island. She said: “Our beautiful daughter Claire, age 19, very devastatingly took her own life on 20th November when away from home at University.
“Claire had struggled terribly after her big brother William was brutally killed in June 2022. She didn’t have life insurance so funds are very much needed, please, to bury her in Orkney where she was born.”
Erlend Fraser, 51, repeatedly stabbed his nephew William Fraser in the attack in the village of St Margaret’s Hope on June 19, 2022. William had been with friends before ending up at his uncle’s door that night. A relative and her partner later arrived to find blood on sofas and the floor, and the IT technician dead in the toilet.
At the time of the trial, Judge Lord Matthews heard the killing of William, who was just 21, had a devastating impact on family members of the deceased. His uncle originally faced a charge of murder, but his guilty plea to the lesser charge of culpable homicide was accepted by the Crown on the basis of diminished responsibility.
A court heard Erlend has a mental disorder in the form of a learning disability. He was ordered to be held at a high security psychiatric hospital under a compulsion order last year following his conviction at the High Court in Edinburgh.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers were called to the Garthdee Road area of Aberdeen around 1.35am on Wednesday, 20 November, following the sudden death of a 19-year-old woman. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
To donate to Claire’s fundraiser, click here.
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