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Chip shop death wife ‘blamed her husband’
DOING calligraphy and playing the didgeridoo are examples of how the arts boost physical and mental wellbeing, a study found.
Didgeridoo lessons in Australia improved respiratory function and raised asthma awareness.
And calligraphy training reduced stress in children who survived the 2008 China earthquakes.
The World Health Organisation’s Dr Piroska Ostlin said: “The arts can tackle complex health challenges.”
BURNED
A WOMAN said her husband poured “boiling oil” over her at their chip shop in a frantic call to a friend, a court heard.
Mavis Bran, 69, suffered burns to 46% of her body and died in hospital six days later.
Her husband Geoffrey Bran, 71, denies murdering her.
Swansea crown court heard how Mavis rang her friend Caroline Morgan, screaming: “Geoff has thrown boiling oil over me. Please get here, I need you now. Help.”
Paramedic Alison Williams said when she arrived at The Chipoteria, in Hermon, Carmarthenshire, Mavis told her: “My husband threw hot fat over me.”
Prosecutor Paul Lewis said: “The terrible burns she suffered were not the result of an accident, but were caused by her husband.” Witnesses said the couple had short tempers and “always argued, swearing and shouting at each other”. The court heard that Ms Morgan said her friend Mavis had told her: “I was nagging him and he flipped.”
Mr Lewis said: “Mavis Bran is said by a family friend to have been ‘always
Geoffrey Bran nagging’ Geoffrey Bran over trivial, silly things.”
He said Ms Morgan had said the couple’s relationship had deteriorated in the months leading up to Mavis’s death.
Mr Lewis said: “Mavis Bran would telephone Caroline Morgan in tears, saying, ‘He’s getting nasty’ and that she was scared of him.”
The trial continues.