THE student who died after being attacked in Irvine was yesterday
buried on Skye, her mother's native island.
The funeral service for Shona Stevens, 31, who died last month, took
place in Portree Church of Scotland and was conducted by the parish
minister the Rev. John Ferguson. Mrs Mairi Smith, Ms Stevens's mother,
belongs to the crofting community of Staffin, but now lives in Portree.
Mr Ferguson told the 130 mourners: ''We are all aware of the tragic
circumstances in which Shona was so suddenly taken away, and of the time
that has elapsed before we could have this service.''
He went on to express sympathy for the emotional, physical and mental
stress that the murdered woman's family was enduring. She was laid to
rest in the village cemetery in Portree.
Mrs Smith attended the funeral with Candice, Ms Stevens's
seven-year-old daughter. Her husband is understood to be living in South
Africa. She had returned to Scotland after the break-up of her marriage.
Ms Stevens died in the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, on November
13. She had been found lying in the undergrowth in a park near her home
in Alder Green the previous week, suffering from severe head injuries
thought to have been the result of an attack with a blunt instrument.
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