Hundreds pay respects to tragic young mum

Hundreds of mourners lined the streets to say goodbye to Melissa Belshaw

MORE than 500 mourners lined the streets to say their last goodbyes to a young mum who was brutally killed in her own home.

A horse-drawn carriage took Melissa Belshaw from her mum’s home to the cemetery where only 10 loved ones where allowed to attend the short service due to lockdown restrictions.

Balloons were released near the cemetery, onlookers said, as the funeral cortege made its way from her parent Jean’s home to Gidlow Lane in Wigan, where she was paid to rest.

The ECHO reports floral inscriptions decorated the carriage, including one on top which simply said, ‘daughter’ and others which said ‘sister’ and ‘Mel B’. The beautician, 32, was on the verge of opening up a new salon and had transformed a business premises in Wigan, which she was hoping to launch when lockdown ended.

But Ms Belshaw was tragically killed at about 4.10pm, on May 20, at her home in Upholland Road, Billinge, on the border of St Helens and Wigan.

The mum, whose 13-year-old daughter was also at home when her mother died, was a big fan of Liverpool, and was considering opening another beauty hub, possibly around the north of the city. In a message to friends, just a day or two before her death, Ms

Belshaw wrote: “Never felt as proud, the money and effort put into this. Can’t wait for it all to be lit up, my sign in 3D.

“It’s taken me some time to turn my life around, and look what I’ve done.

“Opened my shop myself, then on to another in Liverpool. I deserve every moment of this.”

Andrew Wadsworth, who is known to Ms Belshaw, is charged with her murder. The 36-year-old, of Cranfield Road, Wigan, faces more charges of attempted murder, making threats to kill, threatening a person with a knife and assaulting two police officers.

He is in prison, on remand.