DAD SET ME AND MUM ON FIRE - MUM WAS BURNT 65% OF HER BODY AND DIED TWO YEARS LATER ON MY 21ST BIRTHDAY
Amanda Bohm, 22, and her mum, Janet, 58, were the best of friends. But she wasn’t close to her dad, Carl, 68. He had a drinking problem which made him violent. One day, when Amanda was 9, she witnessed her father follow her mum with a hammer and threaten to hurt her. When she reached her teens, he made death threats against her mum. Janet tried to file a protection order against her husband, but it was denied. On February 25th, 2019, on the day Janet was planning to hand in paperwork finalising her divorce, Carl cornered her in the garage which he’d soaked in petrol. Amanda disturbed them and wrestled with her dad for the lighter. But he managed to flick the flint and they all went up in flames. Amanda suffered third degree burns to her ankles, while her mum suffered third degree burns to 65% of her body. Janet underwent over 70 operations where skin grafts were performed. She barely survived. Two years later, on Amanda’s 21st birthday in October 2021, Janet succumbed to her injuries. Three months later, Carl Bohm finally pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree assault and arson. But a week later he died before he was sentenced.
Other great stories
SCHOOL BULLIES WON'T STOP BIRTHMARK TEEN'S HOLLYWOOD DREAM
A teenager bullied for having birthmarks all over her body now hopes to become a Hollywood actress to show girls that beauty comes from being unique .
CANCER DRUG FIGHT DAD DIES, EVEN AFTER LYING TO GET TREATMENT
A former soldier who bravely took on penny-pinching NHS bosses in his fight against terminal cancer has died, aged 37 .
WORLD’S LARGEST JIGSAW
Made up of 40,000 pieces, putting in over 200 hours of work and blunting endless blades, this is the final result for the world’s largest jigsaw, finally finished on Wednesday .
KUNG-FU FROG IMITATES KARATE KID
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
LOVE BIRDS
THESE LOVE BIRDS can’t keep their beaks off each other as they share a very public display of affection .
ROAD KILL ON THE MENU
A ROAD KILL munching Scot has chewed on everything from a dead squirrel to an unlucky crow – all in the name of art .
RESCUE TURTLES OPEN WIDE FOR DINNER
A pair of BEAUTIFUL rescue sea turtles spot their catch in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef .
CHERNOBYL - 28 YEARS ON
TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .
ANCIENT ABANDONED WEBSITES THAT STILL WORK TODAY
A host of websites that are almost twenty years old are collecting a cult following thanks to their retro appeal .
STREET FIGHTER CRAZE SPREADS TO LONDON
THE CRAZE for mimicking the video game Streetfighter has spread to the streets of London .
GLOWWORMS LIGHT UP TOURIST TRAIL
IN a galaxy not so far away lies a magical display of lights that could be the latest image from NASA .
WOMAN SPENDS £20K A YEAR ON 30 PET PUGS
Meet the dog-loving woman who spends £20k a year looking after her 30 pet PUGS .