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
SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
ADORABLE DOLPHINS VISIT AUSTRALIAN BEACH FOR BREAKFAST
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
DEAD MEDIA: ARTIST CREATES SKULL OUT OF OBSOLETE VHS
If you're ever struggling to find a use for your old VHS tapes you might want to take a tip from this innovative artist .
MUM SPENDS £17K ON HER REBORN BABIES
When mum-of-three Becky Tully was told she couldn’t have any more children due to health reasons, she refused to give up on having the little girl she had always wanted .
VICTIM SLAMS SENTENCE AS THUG WALKS FREE FROM COURT
A woman brutally beaten in a revenge attack has slammed the soft sentence handed to her assailant .
THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT
Those with a fear of flying and a ticket to Lukla Airport will want to look away now .
RARE BRONTE POEM FETCHES £92K AT AUCTION
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
POOCHES POSE IN THEIR ELABORATE HEADSCARF COLLECTION
WRAPPED up in classy headscarves, these adorable pooches are the picture of sophistication .
EVIL MONSTER KILLED MY DAUGHTER OVER SECRET ABORTION
The mother of a young woman stabbed 26 times by her ex-partner for having a secret abortion has told how her daughter was cruelly betrayed by her own social worker .
IDYLLIC ICELAND
With stunning scenery and otherworldly vistas, Iceland’s rural beauty is inescapable – especially for Hollywood .
WINKING SQUIRREL
BASKING in smug satisfaction, a confident squirrel gives a wink to the camera .
FROZEN IN TIME LIGHTHOUSE
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .