A top solicitor has backed claims that a Kinross-shire woman was beaten to death in Israel.
The family of hotel worker Julie Pearson believe she was assaulted by a former boyfriend the day before she was found to have suffered a major internal haemorrhage.
Pathologists recently ruled that blood found on her face, limbs and back suggest that she was attacked shortly before she died on November 27, last year.
Now lawyer Tal Lezerovitz has supported the family’s bid to sue for damages if Israeli police officers were found to be negligent.
Relatives fighting for “justice for Julie” want to re-open the case in Israeli courts and establish once and for all if the apparent beating was a factor in her death.
Mr Lezerovitz, who is based in Eilat, said: “Not for the first time, I’ve written to police and sent requests for files and any related material.
“Eilat is quite remote in Israel and I think some of the procedure by police is not by the protocol or by the book.”
He added: “We have to examine all material to see if police were acting in the correct way and if there was negligence.
“If police remain of the view it was not manslaughter or murder, one likely step we can take is to ask the state prosecutor to reassess it and possibly press charges.”
Police had blamed Ms Pearson’s drinking for causing fatal internal bleeding, despite admitting she had been struck by her boyfriend shortly before she died.