Family mourn death of mum (44) found dead in Hamilton home

Dec 13 2012 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

A family were in mourning after a woman’s body was found at a Hamilton flat.

The body of Pauline Horne was discovered at the property in Ann Street, Burnbank, last Thursday, at 7.55am.

Officers and an ambulance staff raced to the scene but the 44-year-old, who admitted on Facebook that she had battled drug problems, is believed to have already passed away. Police have ruled out foul play.

A police car could be seen sitting outside the block of flats in Ann Street last Thursday. Officers were in the house and comforting relatives who had arrived at the ground-floor flat.

Neighbours said that a man and a disabled child, Pauline’s son Jack Broadhurst (10), also lived there.

People locally said Pauline, a mother-of-three, recently became a grandmother after her daughter Sasha (23) gave birth.

Jack, a Glengowan Primary pupil, suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The death of Pauline is not the first tragedy to hit the family.

In June 2010, the Advertsier reported how she was was distraught at the death of her 22-year-old daughter, Kirsty O’Hara, who passed away as she sat smiling and texting pals on the chair of her home in Milton Street.

Kirsty had been diagnosed with two holes in her heart and a blockage to a valve when she was born.

Last year, Pauline told the Advertiser how a thief stole Jack’s only form of entertainment – computer games consoles – which were taken from the family home.

Jack and the family also suffered another blow the previous January when the lad’s chihuahua pup Shadow went missing.

However, thanks to an appeal in the Advertiser, Shadow was safely returned.

Only weeks before she was found dead, Pauline posted on her Facebook page that the chair on which Kirsty passed away had been vandalised by an intruder who broke into her home.

She said: “I am really p****d off (as) my house got broken into and he slashed my leather suite and other things; the only thing that really hurts I know who done it and he knew my daughter passed away on one (of) the chairs, and he knew what one and that was the chair he slashed the most to hurt me. I wanted to keep that suite and it has hurt me.”

On her Facebook, Pauline described herself as an unemployed mum of two surviving children who had never had a proper job. She also spoke candidly on the social network site about her drug problems and how that hasd affected her life with her children.

Pauline’s family were too upset to speak about the incident last week.

One neighbour said: “All I know is that it is a man who lives in the flat with his disabled child. I didn’t know that a body was found. All I saw was the police arriving and an ambulance. It is so tragic especially at this time of the year.”

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: “At around 7.55am last Thursday, the body of a 44 year-old woman was found at a house in Ann Street, Hamilton. A post mortem will be carried out and a report sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

“The death does not appear to be suspicious.”