Caught in the middle of a simmering hatred between her two sons...the grieving mum left with a lifetime of heartbreak

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Leaving court after giving evidence against her own son, Marlene Anderson looked over at the dock and burst into tears. The 80-year-old was caught in the middle of an unimaginable tragedy.

One of her children, killed by another of her offspring. Gilvy Anderson, 59, had previously warned his mother that she'd 'lose' two of her sons. And on April 16 last year, his promise came true.

But that was not the only heartbreak she had to encounter. The day after testifying against her son, Mrs Anderson had to attend the funeral of another of her children, her daughter Meridene, who was in her 50s.

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Just hours before laying her to rest, mother-of-seven Mrs Anderson emotionally recalled the moment she came across the final act of two warring siblings. "Everything I said happened," she said. "I only wish it never had."

As her son was jailed for 15 years for the manslaughter of her younger son Emile, 50, on Tuesday (9 August), the pensioner described the torment of having to give evidence against him.

"It broke my heart to say those things in court. I never thought I would have to say these things but my son needed to hear it," she said in a victim statement read to the court.

"Even though he did what he did he is still my son. I just hope he gets some help because without it he is a very dangerous person. I have now realised I can't possibly have him back in my house and I can't say how much that torments me."

Tensions had been running high for a while in the semi-detached house on Davyhulme Road, Stretford. It was a childish prank which would light the touch paper, and culminate in a fatal stabbing.

Mrs Anderson and her sons lived separate