A 41 year-old man has been arrested and charged after a flat was allegedly torched in Ayrshire. The alleged early-hours attempted murder bid took place on Russell Drive in Ayr at around 4.30am on Saturday, September 10.
30.08.2022 - 16:45 / dailyrecord.co.uk
A terminally ill mum told how she is now saving for winter fuel bills as well as her own funeral - and says the cold exacerbates pain from bone cancer.
Mum-of-one Melanie Finlay, 48, does not know if she will live to see Christmas after being diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer in March 2021.
She was given the all-clear from breast cancer in 2019 but pain in her bones was dismissed as hormonal in 2020.
Melanie, who worked for Police Scotland until she was signed off sick last year, is now receiving palliative care for cancer in her bones, lungs, hips, knees and bone marrow.
She is trying to tie up her finances to make life easier for husband Tom, 43, and is meeting a funeral director next week - expecting it will cost around £3,500 for a no-frills crematorium ceremony, after the couple spent £3,000 on a budget wedding in April.
The family rent a two-bed flat in Inverness which costs £550 a month and have a pre-paid energy meter - and do most of their food shopping when yellow-label goods will have been discounted, and cancelled a Sky subscription.
Their gas and electricity previously came to around £300 a month - but electricity alone is now costing nearly £100 a week, and Melanie is reducing how much she uses her electric wheelchair as a result.
Melanie said: "I've been saving up my money over the summer to pay off the funeral, nothing too elaborate.
"I've had to start wrapping my finances up so my husband isn't burdened with them when I'm gone.
"We're on a prepay meter with our gas and electricity so we're already penalised but we rent the flat so have no choice in that."
She is currently receiving weekly chemo at hospital, and pain management through the palliative team at the Highland Hospice.
Melanie, who grew up in
A 41 year-old man has been arrested and charged after a flat was allegedly torched in Ayrshire. The alleged early-hours attempted murder bid took place on Russell Drive in Ayr at around 4.30am on Saturday, September 10.
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Good evening and welcome to the Daily Record's Saturday briefing.
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Good evening and welcome to the Daily Record's Friday briefing.