Sydney woman dies running from alleged domestic violence days before AVO to be heard in court
A woman in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has died in hospital after running through a glass door to escape alleged domestic violence.
A woman has died running through a glass door to flee an alleged domestic violence incident in Sydney’s east.
Digital marketing executive Claire Austin died in St Vincent’s Hospital on Tuesday after three days in critical condition. Her death is being treated as suspicious by police.
An application for an apprehended violence order on Ms Austin’s behalf was set to be heard in Waverley Local Court on Thursday against 44-year old Lee Loughlin.
Mr Loughlin was taken to Maroubra Police Station to assist with the investigation and has since been released without charge.
Emergency services were called to an apartment in Randwick at 7.40am on Saturday following welfare concerns, where 38-year-old Ms Austin was found with a severe laceration to her arm.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell described the death of Ms Austin as “an absolute tragedy and the loss of another precious life”.
“This is a tragic loss of life and we are determined to work out exactly what happened,” he said.
Strike Force Lyndoch has been established to investigate her death.
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Wednesday expressed his horror at the “disturbing” report of her death.
“I can just imagine how devastated (her family) are today,” he said. “It’s another example of somebody dying allegedly at the hands of domestic violence.”
Mr Minns assured the public that police investigations would be seeking justice for Ms Austin and her family.
Ms Austin, originally from Britain, moved to Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2015 according to her LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.
“Claire Austin was so scared for her life that she ran through a glass door,” said journalist Sherele Moody, founder of Australian Femicide Watch.
“The fact we’ve lost three Australian women in 24 hours shows that this epidemic of violence is not ending,” she said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
She is the 19th Australian woman to be killed this year, according to Ms Moody.
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