Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Brenda Page verdict: Unearthed court papers revealed unhappy, violent marriage

The sheriff court documents from 1977 alleged that Christopher Harrisson had threatened his wife's life just months before her death.

The marriage of Brenda Page and Christopher Harrisson was an unhappy one.
The marriage of Brenda Page and Christopher Harrisson was an unhappy one.

Court papers from 1977 alleged that Christopher Harrisson threatened his wife’s life just months before her death.

Brenda Page made the claim in a legal action to stop her husband seeing her.

Shortly after the geneticist was found slain at her Allan Street flat, the Evening Express obtained the details of the interdict raised at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, however, the full extent of the allegation was only made public in 2004.

She had divorced Harrisson, with whom she had also worked, around nine months before her death on the grounds of his “unreasonable behaviour.”

The interdict was raised by Brenda shortly after the divorce.

Harrisson, who was banned from university premises after his research fellowship was not renewed, did not defend the action.

The Evening Express revealed the contents of the court papers in 2004. Image: DC Thomson

The court papers, originally unearthed by then Evening Express reporter Vivienne Nicoll, show it was alleged that on or about the day his wife was granted a divorce – October 27, 1977 – Harrisson visited her flat and threatened her life.

Brenda also claimed that throughout the whole of their marriage, he was aggressive and threatening and used violence towards her.

“This put another intriguing slant on what was already a sensational story,” explained Miss Nicoll in 2004.

“One of Aberdeen’s top and most respected scientists had been murdered in her own bed. To find out that she claimed she had suffered torment at the hands of her husband presented another side to the serious well-respected woman who was regarded by her peers as one of the best in her profession.”

Damning court papers

The interdict lists four specific alleged incidents.

One, said to have taken place around a year before her death, claims he came to her lab, where she had prepared a demonstration for an open evening, hurled abuse and threatened her in front of visitors, refusing to leave when requested.

In the second, he is said to have called at her home around 6pm on or about the day of their divorce, been let in by Brenda but hurled abuse at her.

This is the incident in which she alleged he made a threat to her life and also threw crockery about and poured tea down the kitchen curtains.

Then it is claimed that a month later, in November 1977, he again called at her flat, was abusive, threatened her with physical violence and turned up at her lab the following day, despite being banned from all university premises.

At the time, his solicitor David Burnside said it was his understanding that the couple had “remained on friendly terms” and after the interdict was obtained Brenda saw Harrisson on a number of occasions “of her own free will.”

The couple had lived apart for the last two years of their five-year marriage. Brenda moved to Allan Street after leaving their home in Mile-End Place, returning to feed her cats.

The wedding of Dr Brenda Page to Christopher Harrisson.

Family and friends claim there were disputes and squabbles almost from the outset. And after just three years, she moved out.

Her sister Rita Ling said: “Outwardly she gave the impression that everything was fine but after a while, we knew things weren’t as happy as they could have been.

“I only know from hearsay that things had been a bit violent but I didn’t witness anything of that at all, only what she told mother.”

According to Brenda’s best friend and colleague Jessie Watt, Harrisson followed his wife everywhere and constantly checked on her by phone.

“In many ways, he was the complete opposite of Brenda,” she said. “He struck me as an absent-minded professor type. He was very eccentric. He did not mix well.”

Rita said Brenda didn’t quite know how to deal with her husband’s moods.

“She would often say she didn’t know what she’d done wrong,” said the sister.