Debbie Smirthwaite

Multilingual Researcher, Translator and Victim Adviser

Debbie Smirthwaite is a Multilingual Researcher, Translator and Victim Adviser at www.victimsabroad.com. A Leeds University graduate fluent in Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese, she has worked in Spain for 30 years and lives near Lloret de Mar, Spain.

The founder of an animal rescue charity (2002), since 2014 she has also run a Facebook page for the “Disappeared”, to alert locals about missing people, pets, stolen vehicles, etc. 

After seeing David Swindle’s campaign about a local murder case (Craig Mallon), she started working with him when trying to help a German lady whose son (17) had died in suspicious circumstances while holidaying in Lloret. One of her most used and useful skills is multilingual Internet and Social Medial research. 

A victim/survivor of violence herself, Debbie has had first-hand experience of the often traumatic police/legal/court and psychological ordeals faced by victims abroad and their families, at risk of secondary victimisation via foreign policing, legal and justice systems which may function very differently to those of their home country.