Brother and sister of student who took her own life to sue abusive boyfriend

A judge has allowed the siblings of a law student who took her own life to sue her abusive former boyfriend.

Emily Drouet was found dead in her halls of residence in March 2016.

Angus Milligan was convicted of physically and verbally abusing the 18-year-old after she was found dead in Aberdeen.

Milligan admitted to choking and slapping Emily as well as assaulting and threatening her during a campaign of abuse.

On Wednesday, Lord Harrower gave permission for Emily’s brother and sister to seek damages at the Court of Session.

Angus Milligan. DEREK IRONSIDE / NEWSLINE MEDIA

Milligan, a former Aberdeen University undergraduate, was ordered to carry out 180 hours community service in July 2017.

In a written judgement published at the Court of Session, Lord Harrower allowed the compensation claim brought by the siblings against Milligan to proceed.

It will come to court in the name of the children’s guardian, their mother Fiona.

However, Lord Harrower refused to allow actions brought by Mrs Drouet, her husband Germain and Emily’s grandparents against Milligan to proceed.

This was because Lord Harrower found that these claims were time barred because of when they had been raised in court.

In the judgement, Lord Harrower complemented the way Mr Drouet gave evidence in court and said the family’s desire for justice could be sought through allowing Emily’s siblings to pursue an action.

He wrote: “Taking all the circumstances into account, in what I acknowledge is a finely balanced decision, I have come to the conclusion that there are insufficiently cogent grounds to allow the adult claims to proceed.

“In agreement with Mr Drouet, who was an impressive witness, the Drouets’ primary goal is to get ‘some form of justice for what Mr Milligan did to Emily’ and that this involves ‘showing that Angus Milligan caused her death’.

“Whether or not that was truly the case is a question that will be determined in the children’s action, assuming it proceeds.”

Mrs Drouet was awarded an MBE in May 2022 for the work her charity, EmilyTest, has done to combat gender based violence in colleges and universities.

She dedicated the award to Emily.

Speaking after the court case, Mrs Drouet said: “Emily was studying law because she believed in justice and wanted to make a difference.”

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