Pensioner unlawfully killed by grandson - coroner

Vera Croghan was a former lecturer at the University of East Anglia

An 89-year-old woman who died in a house fire started by her teenage grandson was unlawfully killed, a coroner has ruled.

Retired lecturer Vera Croghan died on 11 December 2020 after her home on Unthank Road, Norwich was set alight by 19-year-old Chanatorn Croghan.

Croghan, known to the family as Marko, admitted arson and manslaughter by diminished responsibility in 2022 and was given an indefinite hospital order under the Mental Health Act.

At Norfolk Coroners' Court on Tuesday, area coroner Yvonne Blake said there was no evidence to suggest Mrs Croghan and her son, Richard, were in a "real and immediate risk of death" prior to the blaze.

The court heard how police had been called to Mrs Croghan's home by her son hours before the fire was started.

He told the two officers, who arrived shortly after midnight, his son was having a "breakdown" and "it was like talking to someone who wants to kill you".

Police told the inquest that while Croghan's stare seemed "intense" he appeared fine and no crime had been committed.

His father said he was "extremely surprised" when the police decided his son was stable.

"I told the police he could fool a doctor," he said.

In the early hours of the morning, after police and Richard Croghan had left the property, Croghan started a fire under the stairs of his grandmother's home, directly below where she slept.

Her body was found by firefighters in an upstairs bedroom and she had died of smoke inhalation, the court was told.

Croghan was arrested by police in the garden of the property.

Vera Croghan had lived at the property on Unthank Road in Norwich for 57 years

Karin Ronen, Mrs Croghan’s daughter, said the family was disappointed that the inquest did not investigate the role of services, such as police and adult social care, that had dealt with Croghan leading up the blaze.

"I feel like our mother has died in vain," she said.

"This was our last chance to get candour, honesty and answers and this has been denied us again.

"Whether we ever get answers as to why people behaved or acted the way they did, or admitted to acting the way they did, we don’t know."

The coroner said Croghan had "never done anything like this before so I don't know how anyone could have second guessed it really".

Croghan's father "wouldn't have left [Vera] if he thought she was in danger," Ms Blake added.

Karin Ronen says the family "hardly knew" Croghan as he had grown up in Thailand.

Richard Croghan told the inquest he had received "strange" phone calls from his son - who was diagnosed with schizophrenia - in the days leading up to the blaze.

He said he had been behaving "irrationally" at Manchester University, repeatedly saying he wanted to change course, and that he might return to Norwich.

On the evening of 9 December, two days before the fire, Croghan turned up at his grandmother's home, where his father was also staying with his partner.

The following day Mr Croghan said his son "suddenly had a serious mental health collapse".

He told the inquest how his son wanted to use his phone as his did not have any charge.

Mr Croghan's offer to lend him his charger led to a row and "pure aggression came out," he said.

He had "never shown no aggression to [Vera Croghan], only me", he told the court.

"I know Marko, his demeanour was to go for me not anyone else."

Mrs Croghan was described by her family as a "much-loved mum of four and grandmother of 10".

She had been a lecturer at the University of East Anglia had lived in the house for 57 years, her family added.