Caravan fire link to tragic woman

POLICE are linking the murder of a woman at her home to a caravan fire less than half a mile away in which her partner was badly injured.

The body of mother-of-two Andrena Douglas was found in Stewarton, Ayrshire, on Thursday, at around 6am.

Around an hour earlier, police had discovered her badly injured partner, Henry Galbraith, close to a blazing caravan at nearby Peacockbank Farm.

Officers found Mrs Douglas’s body when they called at the 53-year-old’s rented home to tell her that her 50year-old partner had been seriously injured.

Last night Mr Galbraith remained in a critical condition with serious burns in University Hospital Crosshouse, near Kilmarnock, and police have so far been unable to speak to him.

He is believed to be a joiner who had worked for British Aerospace at Prestwick, Ayrshire. He is understood to have split from his former wife about ten years ago and has a daughter and a grandchild.

Neighbours said Mrs Douglas – who is understood to be a grandmother – often spent time with Mr Galbraith at the caravan.

Mrs Douglas’s family, who live nearby, were too upset yesterday to talk about her death.

Following a post-mortem examination on Friday, police said they are treating the case as murder and appealed for information from the public.

Detective Inspector Martin Fergus, of Police Scotland’s major investigation team, said: ‘Officers had attended at Mrs Douglas’s home to inform her that her partner had been found seriously injured following a fire at around 5.15am, but they found her dead in the house.

‘We need to establish what happened between 8pm on Wednesday, June 8, when she was last seen and 6am on June 9 when she was found.

‘I would appeal to anyone who was in the area – who may have seen any suspicious activity to contact police.’