Brave daughter who was abused by her dad commits suicide days after she helped nail the beast in court
Dawn McCormick, 42, was one of five victims whose evidence convinced a jury to convict evil Richard McCormick, 69
A DAUGHTER abused by her dad killed herself days after helping nail the beast in court.
Brave Dawn McCormick, 42, was one of five victims whose evidence convinced a jury to convict evil Richard McCormick, 69.
A friend told of her pride in Dawn after she courageously relived her horrific childhood ordeal in court
But she said the strain of the trial and her father’s cruel denial of her claims tipped her over the edge.
The pal said last night: “Dawn always thought he would get away with what he did. It was like it was one last battle for her.
“Her evidence helped convict him. Without her, he would have walked.
“She finally stood up to her father, but then she ran out of strength. I have no doubt the tipping point for her was the trial.
“Her courage should be recognised.”
The friend said she had prayed Dawn would be able to move on with her life and find peace after McCormick was convicted on eight charges of indecency against five girls.
But Dawn ended her life at home in Falkirk two weeks after the guilty verdicts — and didn’t live to see her monstrous father locked up for eight years last week.
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She added: “It’s so sad that after staying strong for so many years, she made this choice when she could finally have had peace.”
The pal said Dawn was haunted by her ordeal throughout her troubled life.
She said: “When she confided in me a decade ago that her father had abused her for years, she was in bits. It was a really tough story for her to tell.
“At points over the years she would seem to be doing better, but other times she would really struggle. She would get angry or wouldn’t want to leave the house.
“She finally found a boyfriend, but he passed away. She had a lot of emotional struggles to deal with.”
The friend said McCormick’s return to the UK two years ago, which triggered the trial, sent Dawn into a downward spiral.
She said: “That b*****d came back, calling her a liar. He broke her confidence and made her feel worthless. She hated him.
“I wish I’d had the chance to tell her how proud I am of her for taking the stand.”
She added: “No sentence will ever be long enough to compensate for what happened to Dawn.”
McCormick, of Twechar, near Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, finally took the stand in October, a decade after accusations were made against him.
Traumatised victims spoke to cops in 2006 but attempts to trace him failed and bank transactions suggested he had moved to Thailand and Qatar.
But in 2014 information showed the former oil worker was on a flight to the UK. He was nicked at London’s Heathrow airport and hauled back to Scotland for trial.
When he took the stand at the High Court in Edinburgh he denied a string of charges, forcing his victims to describe in detail what he did to them.
Jurors heard he abused children as young as three over 31 years from the 1970s, preying on them in a car and at houses across Stirlingshire.
One woman, now 28, said in evidence that she “hated” him as a child and was “completely terrified” when he visited her house.
She said her first memory of being abused was when he restrained her on his lap aged three after he pounced as she watched TV.
She said: “I was squirming and trying to get back down but I could not because he had his arms round my waist.”
She added: “In the beginning, when it was happening, I was convinced I was to blame and thought it was something about me that made this happen.
“I felt like I had the word ‘victim’ tattooed on my forehead.”
Other pals of Dawn last night urged abuse victims not to suffer in silence.
One said: “Dawn felt her anxieties would make her a burden. She didn’t have many people backing her.
“But I want others to feel they will be believed if they come forward. Don’t bottle everything up.”
Cops confirmed the non-suspicious death of a woman aged 42 in Falkirk on October 25.
A report was sent to the procurator fiscal.
Earlier this year a tormented student killed herself three years after her church organist step-father was cleared of repeatedly raping her, an inquest heard today.
Juliet Crew, 22, left a chilling note saying she felt let down by the legal system before hanging herself at home.
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