A bitter family feud has erupted after a woman is claimed to have put her mum’s coffin in the back of her car and buried her in a field on her farm. Arlene McKenzie’s furious siblings say she gave their late mum Elizabeth Molloy an “inhumane” send-off this week which went against her dying wishes.
They told the Record they have now disowned their sister – who was convicted of attacking a doctor in 2020 – for putting their mum’s coffin in a jeep, before laying the pensioner to rest in a “paddock” where animals are buried. They say they will never be able to visit their mum’s grave at the 56-year-old’s farm near Dunlop, Ayrshire.
Elizabeth’s son, William Barr, 51, said: “It’s horrific, inhumane and disrespectful. My mum didn’t want buried how she’s been buried. We no longer have a sister.”
Elizabeth died aged 77 at a nursing home in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, on May 20 after a long battle with dementia. William and his sister Gwenne Barr, 55, say their mum had not put her funeral plans in writing but spoke of wanting to be buried with her brother.
A family meeting was held to discuss the plans as the pensioner’s condition worsened and the siblings say they were horrified when Arlene – who is married to a Free Church of Scotland minister – revealed plans to bury their mum at her home, Nethergate Farm. There is nothing specific in Scots Law to prevent private burials.
William and Gwenne disputed the plans and asked if they could pay for a plot in a cemetery but claim Arlene pressed on with the arrangements regardless. The siblings consulted lawyers but say they were told they were unable to halt the burial.
They claim they turned up at the funeral parlour in Bellshill where their mum was lying in rest to be told they were not allowed to visit the coffin until the morning of the funeral. They chose not to attend the service on Monday, which was conducted by Arlene’s husband Thomson McKenzie, and stood outside, but relatives were horrified when they saw the coffin being taken away in the couple’s jeep.
Gwenne said: “I was round the back of the parlour because I wanted to see the flowers and what the hearse was going to be like. There was a private ambulance sitting there. I said, ‘I can’t believe she’s not getting a hearse’ and was already upset about that.
“We were sitting outside and the private ambulance left. A couple of cars followed it as a mark of respect and the next thing we know Arlene’s car came out with the coffin in the back.
“The kids were devastated. They just drove off with my mum in the back of the jeep.”
A handful of relatives are understood to have attended the farm burial. Gwenne said she has been left heartbroken over the dispute.
She said: “It’s been horrific. You want your loved one to be at peace.
“I am absolutely devastated by it all. My heart is in so much pain. It was always William who was supposed to arrange mum’s funeral but Arlene took up power of attorney and guardianship when mum was ill.
“We just got told what was going to happen. I’ve seen the field. It’s used as a graveyard for the animals and dogs. I think there’s a horse buried in there.
“She’s got two donkeys and horses and that’s what it’s used for. We would need to ask permission to get on to her land.
“I’ll not be able to visit. Even if I could I couldn’t do it. I’ve not got a sister any more.”
William said he and Gwenne made repeated attempts to resolve the situation before the burial but Arlene did not respond to their attempts to contact her. They held their own private memorial service and wake for relatives following the funeral, which was not attended by Arlene.
He said: “Every family has its issues but there had been nothing previously to this extent. All of the family that were there said it was disgusting – that they’d never been to a funeral like it.
“It was just a way to save money. It’s not what you want for your mum.
“There’s three of us in the family. We said we didn’t want to argue but she just did it her way. She’s no sister of mine since she put mum in the field.
“I’m hurting inside and I’ve lost my sister now. I’m angry at them both but I’m really angry at Thomson to allow mum to be put in the back of a car when he’s a practising minister.”
In 2020, Arlene was found guilty of a vicious attack on a senior consultant at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock. She punched Dr Samuel Allen in the face before seizing his arms and digging her nails into his skin, kicking him on the shin and striking him on the body with her handbag.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard she was upset that her mother had been told the results of a test without her being present. She was fined £700 and ordered to pay £300 in compensation to the doctor.
The Record put all of the allegations that were made by the family to Arlene McKenzie.
She said she would consider her response.
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