I SHARE YOUR PAIN
Mum of murdered woman opens her heart
THE mum of a murdered Glasgow woman has opened her heart to the family of Sarah Everard as the 33-year-old’s alleged killer made his first appearance in court.
Beatrice Jones, whose daughter Moira was raped and murdered in 2008, penned an open letter after Sarah’s remains were found in Kent last week.
Police Officer Wayne Couzens, 48, made his first appearance at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh top security jail in London yesterday and was charged with her kidnap and murder.
Couzens is accused of snatching the marketing executive as she walked home from a friend’s flat in
Clapham, south London. Beatrice said Sarah’s family were in danger of being “swamped” by the scale of their ordeal and heartache. Her daughter Jones was brutally raped and murdered after being abducted near her home in the southside of Glasgow.
Moria’s killer, Marek Harcar, forced her into Queen’s Park before sexually assaulting her and beating her to death. The 40-year-old’s body was discovered by a park ranger.
Beatrice’s comments were made as part of an open letter on behalf of The Moira Fund, a charity she founded to support bereaved families.
She said of Sarah’s family: “They have experienced nightmare on top of nightmare as events have unravelled and their beautiful missing daughter became another murder victim. And there seems no end to it.
“I am very concerned that events have developed to such an extent that those who matter most, Sarah and her family, are being totally swamped and further traumatised by what is going on around them, adding trauma to trauma.
“It will be a long time before they can even get past the trauma, to start processing the awfulness of it all and being able to grieve.
“There really are no words to describe that awfulness.”
A MUM has told how she fell seriously ill after being sold a sick dog with a potentially deadly bug from puppy farmers exposed by the Record.
Pauline Clifford said she had to be seen by medics after buying Westie pup Lola from Tom Mongan – a key member of the Irish gang who have brought misery to hundreds of Scots.
The 36-year-old, of Milton, Glasgow, said: “I hope these people get caught and locked up for a long time.”
The Record revealed yesterday how Mongan, 27, and wife Ellie, 28, are accused of taking huge sums from families for gravely ill puppies and are understood to have used different rental flats to escape detection.
The pair and associates are said to have made hundreds of thousands of pounds, leaving a trail of misery in their wake.
We unmasked the couple after the Scottish SPCA was inundated with complaints
SERIOUSLY ILL Lola the pup from people who spent more than £1000 on dogs – only to be hit with huge vet bills and the loss of their pet.
Pauline told us she paid £900 for Lola after posting online looking for a first pet for her daughter Lilly, nine.
She says Mongan sent her videos of the pup before arranging to go to a flat in Paisley to see her in January.
The mum said: “When we got there it was just Lola left. We asked lots of questions and if she was healthy and he said ‘yes’.
“We were given a certificate, microchip information and details of her first vaccination.”
But when the mum took Lola home she realised the pup was unwell and had blood in her stools.
She took her to a vet who diagnosed giardia – an infection which can be deadly if left untreated.
It emerged that Lola’s microchip was registered to another pet. Pauline said: “I was messaging the man I got Lola from for help but had no response.”
Luckily, Lola got better but Pauline was then hit with what she believes was the giardia bug, which can be passed on to humans.
She said: “Paramedics attended. I’ve never felt so ill and it went on for 10 days.
“We’d started to suspect Lola was from a puppy farm but didn’t realise until we saw the Record.”
Ellie Mongan yesterday denied she was selling puppies but wouldn’t provide a full statement.
RUJAZZLE, 27, is one of the leading ladies in the Glasgow scene and a member of the Mothertucker collective, whose wacky weekly shows draw audiences from around the world.
She said: “When I first started going out in Glasgow in 2014, there was no drag other than old-school queens doing karaoke or bingo nights. But by pre-lockdown, there was some kind of drag night every day of the week somewhere in the city.
“From drag shows, pageants and balls to RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing parties and Glasgow’s first-ever Festival of Drag in 2018, the scene is thriving and going from strength to strength.
“I’ve been working as a full-time drag queen since I moved to Glasgow in 2017 after starting my drag journey in St Andrews, where I was studying art history at the university.
“I’m a member of the Mothertucker collective. Lawrence Chaney was part of it before she hit the big time on TV and we have weekly shows at the Polo Lounge Club.
“When I started out, my audiences were mostly gay men and queer people but nowadays it’s teenage girls with their dads and mums out with their girlfriends. Drag is no longer for solely LGBT audiences. Thanks to shows like Drag Race, it has become mainstream entertainment that everyone wants to watch.
“I don’t think I’d be working as a full-time drag performer if it wasn’t for Drag Race. It has created a market and made a whole new generation who are interested in drag.
“Ellie and Lawrence have done Scotland proud by shining a light on the Scottish scene and showing how diverse, talented and unique it is.
“There were no Scots on the show last year so having two in the final four is awesome. Hopefully their success will encourage Scottish venues to pay drag queens more.
“As Lawrence highlighted on the show, we don’t get paid nearly as much as the English queens. But since that episode aired, some venues have reached out to us and have promised to pay more in the future.
“I’ve been told to clear my diary once lockdown is over as there is going to be more demand for drag than ever before. It’s set to be the new Roaring 20s.”
I don’t think I would be working as a full-time performer if it wasn’t for Drag Race RUJAZZLE ON THE RISING POPULARITY OF DRAG