Murder victim’s daughter in plea for help for men suffering domestic violence
A woman whose father was murdered by his girlfriend is calling for more help for male victims of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland.
Shannon McIlwaine’s father, Tony Browne, was murdered in his Belfast home in 2022 by his girlfriend, Wiktoria Maksymowi.
She was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024 for fatally stabbing him in the neck while he slept.
"My dad was a gentle and kind soul who always saw the best in people," Shannon told the News Letter.
She believes this made him particularly vulnerable to the six months of unprovoked abuse she said he had suffered.
Shannon said Maksymowi controlled her father's money and mobile phone and tried to isolate him from his family.
"There was never any reason given why she did it," she said of the murder.
"At no point did she every claim that dad had abused her.”
Shannon later discovered that friends and neighbours had witnessed the abuse, but Tony had sworn them to secrecy.
He had burn marks on his hands from where Maksymowi had burned him with a lighter while he slept, she said.
A relative also told her they witnessed Maksymowi stab Tony in the knee with a knife, without provocation.
She has also been given video footage showing Maksymowi screaming in her father's face on a bus the day before his murder.
Shannon is now part of a support group run by Carey Baxter of the Men’s Alliance, which is organising the Women's March for Men at Writers' Square, Belfast, on Saturday November 14. It will gather at 1pm before marching through the city centre at 2pm.
Shannon is urging others to join the march to raise awareness of the issue.
"Sometimes you almost feel afraid to speak up and say that men can be abused because there is a higher number of women that are abused – which I fully acknowledge," she said.
"But I think people also need to acknowledge that men are abused as well and the statistics for men would probably be a lot higher if they were willing to come forward."
PSNI Detective Superintendent Kerry Brennan is leading a campaign to tackle domestic abuse against men, called ‘Every Victim Matters’.
She noted that over 5,800 domestic abuse crimes against males were reported last year – making up 32% of all domestic abuse crime.
“Anyone can be the victim of domestic abuse and as a Police Service we take all reports made to us incredibly seriously,” she told the News Letter.
"Abuse is abuse. It's not a lesser crime because the victim is male. Every victim deserves dignity, support, and to know that the law stands firmly on their side," she added.
PSNI figures show that 128 people were killed in homicides with a domestic abuse motivation between 2007/08 and 2025/26. Of these, 79 were female (61.7%) and 49 were male (38.3%).
The latest figures record seven female victims 2025/26, but also four males. Police also recorded 5,817 domestic abuse crimes against male victims last year.
Men accounted for 32% of all victims of recorded domestic abuse crimes, but only around 19% of cases resulted in a sanction outcome.
For more information see: https://www.psni.police.uk/every-victim-matters