ONLY IN TOMORROW’S
Justice for my best pal
THE ex-girlfriend of a scumbag who murdered his elderly mum by setting her on fire has branded him an evil psychopath.
William Kelly, 42, shouted “die, die” as mother Cathy was engulfed in flames.
Minutes earlier, he had punched and kicked the 71-year-old on the head and body, leaving her face-down on the living room floor.
Kelly was convicted of murder on Thursday following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
As the brute faces being jailed for life, his former partner Eleanor Banks has spoken of her relief at getting justice for Cathy, who she says was her best friend.
Eleanor, 44, witnessed Cathy’s horrific death.
Speaking after the verdict, Eleanor said: “Cathy was a diamond. She was my best friend and I was hers.
“He is evil. I was a main witness for two days at court. I saw everything. I want the world to know what he is like. He is a psychopath.
“All that has mattered is justice for Cathy and now I’ve got that.”
Kelly carried out his sickening attack on Cathy at her Kilmarnock home in February. The former offshore worker claimed his mum had embarrassed him at a 21st birthday party by drinking too much.
In evidence, Eleanor told the court: “William was emptying a petrol can on to his mum – all over her – and I couldn’t stop him. I was standing screaming, ‘You’re going to kill your mum’ and he was saying, ‘Die’. The liquid smelled like petrol.
“He went down and he set fire at the bottom of her legs. She went up like an inferno.”
Cathy suffered bruising, broken ribs and second degree burns to 45 per cent to her body.
When Kelly was in hospital being treated for burns, he told a nurse: “She got what she deserved.”
It emerged at the trial that Cathy had been recovering from a brain haemorrhage, allegedly caused by beatings inflicted by Kelly.
Judge Lady Stacey deferred sentence until January 10. She told the jury: “What you have had to listen to has been distressing and sad.”