Marketing executive Claire Austin dies after fleeing alleged domestic violence in Randwick

A digital marketing executive has died from catastrophic injuries she suffered from running through a glass door to escape alleged domestic violence.

A digital marketing executive has died from catastrophic injuries she suffered from running through a glass door to allegedly escape domestic violence, according to police.

Claire Austin, 38, spent three days on life support in St Vincent’s Hospital after she was found with a partially severed arm and bleeding profusely inside her Randwick home, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, on Saturday morning.

A man was taken from the scene by police and admitted to a mental health facility on Tuesday night.

He has since been released without charge and no arrests have been made.

Describing Ms Austin’s death as “an absolute tragedy and the loss of another precious life” and speaking generally on the issue, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell called for an end to the scourge of domestic violence crippling NSW.

“People have to stop dying in situations of domestic violence,” Mr Thurtell told The Daily Telegraph. “Whether it’s women or men, and most of the time it is women who die in DV situations, it is tragic and it has to end”.

Pictured is Claire Austin, 38. Picture: Facebook,

Mr Thurtell said Ms Austin’s death is being treated as a criminal matter, and that Strike Force Lydoch had been set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding it.

“This is a tragic loss of life and we are determined to work out exactly what happened,” he said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns declared the death as yet “another example of somebody dying allegedly at the hands of domestic violence”.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Minns vowed police would seek justice for Ms Austin and her family.

“It’s just a disturbing report. I feel so terribly sorry for that woman and her family.

“I can just imagine how devastated they are today.

“I want the public to be assured that there’s a taskforce that’s been set up by NSW Police, they’re taking it incredibly seriously, and the focus will be justice for that woman and her family.”

A distressed neighbour at the Randwick St complex called triple-0 just after 7.30am after hearing what she described as “a lot of banging and a loud row”.

“It was really awful … I was on the phone to the police operator just saying “hurry, hurry, please hurry”,” the visibly shaken woman said.

Exterior shot of the Randwick apartment. Picture Nathan Smith

It is understood Ms Austin, who is originally from the UK but has lived in Sydney for about 10 years, forced herself through an internal glass sliding door as she tried to get out of the top floor unit.

She suffered a severed artery in her arm, among multiple shocking injuries, police said.

“We will be alleging this is a shocking, shocking case of domestic violence,” a police source said.

Exterior shot of the apartment where fingerprints were dusted by investigators.

A friend of Ms Austin said her family rushed to Sydney from the UK, after being told by medical staff that her injuries were “too catastrophic to survive”.

They arrived on Tuesday morning just hours before she died.

“We are all absolutely in shock … our beautiful, beautiful Claire,” the friend said. “The light of our lives, our fun, happy, beautiful Claire.”

Claire Austin, 38, (right) was on life support in St Vincent's Hospital after an alleged domestic violence attack at her Randwick home on Saturday morning. Picture: Facebook,

A colleague said Ms Austin, worked in digital marketing, was in the process of relocating to Queensland.

Tragically, if the allegations are upheld by a court, Ms Austin is the fifth person to die this year in a situation of domestic violence. In 2024, 37 people died in domestic violence homicides.

A NSW Police spokesman said officers get called to a DV incident on average every three minutes.

The latest BOCSAR figures revealed there were 37,615 domestic violence-related assaults in 2024.

Originally published as Marketing executive Claire Austin dies after fleeing alleged domestic violence in Randwick