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Grieving mum wants answers after daughter (21) dies from suspected overdose in OAP's house

The Sunday World can reveal a second person died in the same property on May 1 and locals staged a protest outside the property

Deborah Hanna with a photo of Caitlin

Paul Higgins and Steven Moore

A grieving mum is demanding answers after her daughter died from a suspected drug overdose in a pensioner's home in Lisburn.

Eight weeks since her daughter Caitlin died at just 21-years-old, her heartbroken mum Deborah Hanna says she still doesn't know and cannot be sure about what happened to her in the pensioner's bungalow where she died but that she is determined to find out.

The Sunday World can reveal a second person died in the same property on May 1 and recentlylocal residents staged a peaceful protest outside the property.

Police have confirmed they attended the protest and dispersed and crowd. Residents told the Sunday World a man was escorted from the property.

Now Deborah Hanna says she just wants answers as to what happened to her beloved daughter.

"Caitlin had her problems but she was trying to sort herself out with drug counselling and treatment, but it seems that every time she tried to get away, she was dragged back in again," says the west Belfast mum-of-three.

"Her social worker told police countless times that she had concerns about Caitlin but nothing was done and I want to know why - maybe they should have listened to her and if they had, my little girl might still be here."

Caitlin was just two months past her 21st birthday when she was found dead in the pensioner's bungalow in Lisburn from a suspected drug overdose on March 28 this year.

Just three weeks ago, at the start of the month, an unknown male died in the same property.

According to a police spokesperson: "Police attended the scene of a sudden death of a man in Lisburn on May 1. A man, aged 58, and a woman, aged 30, were both arrested on suspicion of drug offences, and were subsequently released on police bail pending further enquiries."

Having suffered from drug addiction since her late teens, Caitlin had become involved in the sex trade and both Deborah and Caitlin's aunt Katie, say they fear she was being preyed upon.

"I know her doctor saw her on March 2nd and noticed she got into a flashy car when she left the surgery.

"That night the GP went to Caitlin's flat to make sure she was ok and she said when Caitlin came out, she looked like a glamour girl - she was all done up, going out to work."

Addicted to drugs, Caitlin had managed to get a flat and was trying to get her life together when the home she was making for herself was completely vandalised.

Two weeks later Caitlin died.

Last Monday Deborah, Katie and around a dozen of Caitlin's friends and relatives held a vigil outside the house to raise awareness, distributing leaflets about Caitlin and her tragic death, a death that brought a sudden end to their hopes that Caitlin would get her life back together.

"Caitlin was passionate, she was smart and Caitlin was cheeky," says Katie.

For Deborah, the "death knock" of two police officers coming to her door at 4am, "something really did break inside me that night."


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