Murder investigation after Stirling salon fire

A WOMAN has died and a man is seriously injured in hospital after a fire at a hair salon.
Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them as soon as possible. Picture: Julie BullPolice have appealed for witnesses to contact them as soon as possible. Picture: Julie Bull
Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them as soon as possible. Picture: Julie Bull

Ahdieh Yazdanparast, 46, died in hospital on Saturday night from injuries she sustained in the blaze at Venus Hair & Beauty in Stirling on Saturday morning.

Police have launched a murder investigation but say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

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The man was also seriously injured in the fire, which started in the cellar of the salon in Maxwell Place, Stirling.

It is understood police are treating the attack as a domestic incident.

Mrs Yazdanparast, who is understood to be of Turkish origin, had been involved in a protracted divorce dispute with her husband Ahmed.

In a judgment issued in the Court of Session earlier this year, judge Lady Smith said Mr Yazdanparast did not want to be divorced.

Lady Smith added: “There is evidently considerable tension between them.”

Her written opinion described their financial circumstances as being “not straightforward” and that attempts to settle their respective claims had been “unsuccessful”.

Lady Smith also made references to the husband’s conduct, which she described as “bizarre” and had caused “considerable distress, anxiety, and upset to the pursuer.”

She said that in May 2011, another sheriff granted the woman interim interdict “against molestation” by her husband.

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The sheriff was going to specify in the interdict that he refrain from such behaviour that included “crying, sobbing, wailing, howling, shouting” and “threatening to commit suicide”, but refrained after the husband agreed in court not act in this manner.

The injured man was given first aid at the scene by two men until emergency services arrived, and both victims were taken to the Forth Valley Royal Infirmary, in Larbert, for treatment.

Detective Superintendent Gary Flannigan, who is in charge of the investigation, said: “This is now a murder investigation and I would appeal to any witnesses who have not already spoken to the police to contact us as soon as possible by calling 101.”

Det Supt Flannigan issued descriptions of several people who were either customers in the salon that morning or were passing by at the time: “In particular, we would like to speak to a man wearing a check shirt and another man wearing a dark jacket who provided first aid to an injured man at the scene.

“Additionally, a man pushing a bike wearing a brown waist-length hooded top and light trousers and possibly carrying a dark rucksack, and a lady who left the salon shortly before the incident may be able to help us.

“Finally, we are keen to speak to a man and a woman who also passed by the scene shortly before the incident took place.”

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