Heysham fatal fire: Remote chance cigarette started blaze, jury told

Carers for Mary Gregory told the trial they had never seen her smoke in the front bedroom

The chance a carelessly discarded cigarette started a fire which killed a 94-year-old woman was "extremely remote", a murder trial has heard.

Tiernan Darnton, 21, allegedly "confessed" to starting the blaze weeks after the funeral of Mary Gregory, who died in Heysham, Lancashire, in 2018.

Forensic scientist Graham Baxter told the court a match or lighter was the "most likely" cause of the 2018 fire.

He also said a smoke alarm had been dismantled. Mr Darnton denies murder.

Mr Baxter told the trial it was "patently obvious" the fire in the early hours of 28 May started between the bed and the window in the front bedroom of the bungalow in Levens Drive.

He said he thought the "most likely" explanation for the blaze was a match or cigarette lighter and it burned for a period of time and was "not a quick fire".

Unplugged phone

There was evidence that a phone in the property had been unplugged before the blaze and one of the smoke alarms had been dismantled, Mr Baxter added.

Asked by prosecutor David McLachlan QC whether it could have been caused by the dropping of a cigarette, Mr Baxter replied: "I couldn't totally exclude that possibility but in my experience I consider the likelihood of that... to be extremely remote."

The court heard Mr Baxter reviewed the case from photographs and did not attend the scene, unlike Andrew Stone from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service who concluded the fire was accidental and the most likely cause was a carelessly discarded cigarette.

Mr Stone maintains that conclusion, the court was told.

The jury also heard statements from a number of carers who regularly visited Mrs Gregory, who had dementia, who said they had never seen her smoke in the front bedroom.

The trial at Preston Crown Court heard earlier Mr Darnton's friends had thought he was joking when he told them during a game of truth or dare how he killed the grandmother.

Following his arrest, Mr Darnton told police that his truth or dare comments were not true and he neither deliberately or accidentally started the fire.

The trial continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]