A LIVERPOOL property firm was branded “ruthless” last night, after revealing plans to take the bereaved parents of a student to court over unpaid rent since their daughter’s death.

Shauna McCann, a second-year student at Liverpool Hope University, was studying to become a teacher when she died suddenly in January.

Since then, her parents, Kevin and Margaret, of Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, have received demands from student accommodation specialists Brownlow Property Management (BPM), based in Wavertree, to pay for her rented flat in the Mossley Hill area of the city for the rest of the university year.

In a statement, the firm said it “did not feel we are being callous or unsympathetic” towards the family.

Kevin and Margaret McCann last night spoke of the distress of their situation in a joint statement: “The loss of our daughter, Shauna, was a dreadful blow to our family,” they said.

“Her sudden death whilst a student at Hope University Liverpool has devastated us and her friends. Shauna had hoped to qualify as a special needs teacher.

“We are trying to the best of our ability to come to terms with the loss of our precious daughter.

“This whole issue has caused us undue stress and worry.”

Last night, Liverpool Hope’s Students Union backed the McCann family and offered its help.

Vice President for Education and Welfare Teresa Dawson said: “It appears to be a very insensitive reaction, given the tragic circumstances regarding the sudden loss of a much-loved member of the student body.

“As a matter of urgency, the Students Union will be talking to the University to try to find a solution and to spare the family any further suffering at this time.”

Last night, Brownlow Property Management confirmed it was prepared to take the McCann family to court to secure the outstanding rent of £866 for the period March to June.

“We do not feel we are being callous or unsympathetic towards Mr McCann,” a company spokesman said.

“We have extended our commiserations to Mr McCann both verbally and in writing.

“We have also from the outset, verbally and in writing, offered Mr McCann the opportunity to spread the burden of the payments over as many months as his family budget permits.”

The spokesman added that the terms of the joint tenancy agreement meant the company could not advertise for a replacement tenant for the property without the consent of the three remaining housemates – named on a social networking site by Miss McCann as Nikki, Lucy and Claire.

He said a letter was written to the tenants last month asking whether they were considering finding a new tenant but received no response.

He also pointed out that the company had not actively removed money from Miss McCann’s bank account for the month’s rent after her death, and that it was paid to them by her bank under an existing standing order agreement.

Northern Ireland Assembly member Mickey Brady has taken up the family’s cause and said the rental demand was “ruthless”.

He said: “The agent is quite clearly arguing that the young girl, because of her sudden death, has breached the lease agreement and is demanding that the rent be paid in full.

“This is another example of ruthlessness of the worst kind, and a fixation on ensuring that the money owed will be obtained even if it has to override a family’s grief.

“I have reluctantly brought the issue into the public domain so that the ‘all about money, nothing about grief’ attitude is highlighted, and perhaps that the agent and landlord would reconsider their approach.

“The month’s rent just after her death was removed from her bank account and they were told that as guarantors they would have to continue paying.

“This family is still traumatised by the sudden death of their precious daughter, and now they have to cope with the added pressure and fears of debt collectors and court cases.

“In all my years in dealing with agencies and officials, I have never come across such a totally unsympathetic attitude.”

Miss McCann died of natural causes.

Hope University last night said they were not involved in the dispute.

OPINION: PAGE 6

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