My Husband Burned Down Our Home —Then the Bank Came for What Was Left

By Christian Amegbor
Feb Sat, 2026
in News

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Francesca Onody’s family life ended one summer evening in 2022 when her abusive husband doused their home with petrol as police arrived to arrest him.

She and her children escaped just seconds before the building collapsed. Her husband Malcolm Baker died in the fire.

That night, Onody lost her husband, her home, her pets and her belongings. She also lost all her money. Shortly before his death, Baker emptied her bank account and cancelled her mortgage and building insurance.

Three years later, she faced losing what little she had left. Her mortgage lender, Halifax, announced that it was planning to repossess the property to pay off a £35,000 mortgage and other debts they had accumulated since Baker’s death.

This included the land surrounding the ruins of her home, where she and her children had been living in a caravan since the fire.

I felt like my world was falling apart again, she said when she first contacted Guardian Money in June last year. I saw my house being demolished. I had planned so well to build a proper roof over me and my children, and now Halifax wanted to take the land out from under us.

This month, three and a half years after the explosion, Onody, 53, was able to pay off her mortgage and take possession of the land. Halifax dropped the case after Guardian Money intervened.

It also cancelled the interest and fees accrued on the mortgage during Onody’s long legal battle to get the court’s permission. Her ordeal has exposed the legal and financial challenges that victims face after a relationship ends.

In the years since Baker’s death, she has had to challenge his will, which left her with nothing, fight with banks and insurers, and pay a lawyer to represent her in his investigation.

Meanwhile, a dispute between the Attorney General’s Office and the Land Commission has left her in a legal limbo for months.

Worse, she once faced criminal charges in Baker’s death when the Land Commission ordered an internal homicide investigation to determine whether he was the victim.

The Land Commission later apologized to her. She admitted in a letter that Baker was the perpetrator and the investigation continued to reveal the effects of Onody’s abuse during their 18-year marriage.

My husband’s financial and domestic abuse campaign was designed to continue after his death Francesca Onody My husband’s financial and domestic abuse campaign was designed to continue after his death, and the lack of support from trade unions left me terrified for years, she says.

Onody’s nightmare began years before the explosion. Baker, a senior officer in the Metropolitan Police, began feeling unwell after he retired from the force in 2011, according to his own investigation. He was also a heavy drinker. Onody said things got worse when she filed for divorce.

He became vengeful, threatening to destroy my life and that of my children, she said. At one point he left a dead rabbit on my bed. We lived in constant fear, wondering if he was drunk or if one of his rages would destroy our house and surround us while we slept.

Onody said Baker began to stockpile petrol cans in his family home, and she called the police repeatedly as his behaviour became increasingly threatening.

On his last night, she called 999 after a confrontation. Baker had barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom when officers arrived.

Onody and her children were downstairs when petrol began to leak through the living room ceiling. Police evacuated the house, which caught fire within seconds and collapsed. Baker, who was still on the balcony above, could not be saved.

Onody and her children were trapped in a caravan near the wreckage with no running water or electricity. As the title deeds and mortgages were in Baker’s name alone, she was unable to sell the land or seek to rebuild the house.

It took 28 months for her to successfully challenge his will under the Inheritance Family and Dependants Act and be appointed as the estate’s representative.

During this time, she was not allowed to negotiate the mortgage with Halifax because her name was not on the birth certificate.

She took over the administration of the estate in February 2025 and discovered that the mortgage was £34,700 in arrears and legal costs had been paid, and Halifax ordered the property to be returned.

I am facing legal action over my husband’s actions, with Halifax now acting as the financial administrator and breach of trust.

Francesca Onody's statement of influence Halifax, claimed that she initially agreed to re-register the property in her name so she could sell the property, but in June last year she withdrew the offer and warned her that the card would be confiscated.

A Halifax spokesman said: We understand the difficulties and complexities Ms Onody is facing.

While we are trying to support her as she awaits the court’s decision on the disputed will, we would have liked to have understood what we could do and the steps she needed to take to transfer the documents.

We regret that we did not provide the support she needed earlier. To address this, we have suspended the return of the property indefinitely to give her time to complete the transfer, paid compensation of £500, and reduced the mortgage debt by over £21,000 up to the date of her husband’s death.

We were prepared to discuss mortgage options once the documents were in her name, but we understand her decision to sell the land and move on.

The Land Registry agreed to expedite the transfer of the documents when we contacted them. Onody became the owner of the land in November, and this month she paid off the debt. The defendants will use all the tools at their disposal to continue monitoring abuses under

Sam Smethers, a survivor of economic abuse, is now hoping to sell the land and buy property elsewhere. to rebuild her life with her children. She says it has been a difficult time for years, but she is confident that good things can be achieved.

The Financial Conduct Authority is introducing new rules in 2023 to force financial firms to improve support for vulnerable customers.

The Consumer Protection Act requires companies to act more flexibly to protect customers in difficult situations, but, according to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, there have been no victims like Onody.

The story is heartbreaking but unfortunately, a reminder of the devastating damage that economic abusers can cause, said its chief executive Sam Smethers.

Criminals will use any tool at their disposal, from insurance products to mortgages, to maintain control and harm those they have harmed Financial services companies have made great strides in providing support to survivors of financial abuse, but there is still room for improvement.