Money raised for bloke’s funeral refunded as folks uncover he is in jail
Funds raised for the funeral of a guy believed to have kicked the bucket were refunded following a misunderstanding.
The Benarty community rallied together to celebrate the life of a well known member of the community they believed had died.
Rumours and social media posts led the community and the unnamed bloke’s family friends to believe he had passed away, reports Dunfermline Press.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour leader’s son makes Kim Jong-un and Keir Starmer ‘wrestle each other’ for fun
Click for more of the latest news from the Daily Star.
A GoFundMe page was set up and £1,800 was quickly raised, however, after some poking around the man’s apparent death was just a misunderstanding.
(Image: Getty Images)
SNP councillor Lea McLelland, who represents Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty, and the GoFundMe organiser looked into the situation a little further, and learned the guy was alive and in prison.
The chap in question had grown up in Benarty but had moved away, and the pair spent the day trying to track down information on him.
Speaking to the Times, Cllr McLelland said: “The fundraiser was started in the event that a funeral may be required and then on the Monday, myself and [the resident] went and spoke to the council, we spoke to the police, the sudden death team in the police, the undertakers and we drew a blank with every one of them.”
Cllr McLelland and the GoFundMe organiser were pointed to a Turkish barbers where a memorial had been set up for the ‘deceased’.
(Image: Getty Images)
“The guy who worked there confirmed that they had been told he passed, and there was actually a wee shrine,” she said. “There was notes, with RIP on them, and there were flowers.”
Cllr McLelland was told the man had died in prison, so she then got in touch with the governor of the prison. She confirmed the man was alive and accounted for.
She said: “I got home and I emailed the governor of the prison, he phoned me on the Tuesday morning and said ‘I’m not aware that he died, what I am aware of is that he’s in another establishment.’”
(Image: Getty Images)
While the funeral funds were not needed, Cllr McLelland said she was blown away by the generosity of the community.
She added: “Every single person has now been refunded, even the people that said they didn’t want to be refunded, have been refunded the money they donated. I am so proud and want to thank everyone who did donate.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
