Heysham explosion: Man jailed for killing boy, 2, in gas blast

Two-year-old George Hinds died in the blast in Heysham in May 2021

A man who cut a gas pipe to sell for scrap, causing a blast in which a two-year-old boy died, has been jailed.

Darren Greenham used an angle grinder to cut the pipe at his home on Mallowdale Avenue in Heysham, Lancashire, in May 2021.

The subsequent explosion killed George Hinds, whose family lived next door.

Greenham, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, damaging a gas meter and theft of gas, was sentenced to 15 years in jail at Preston Crown Court.

George's father Stephen Hinds clutched a Paw Patrol toy as he watched the sentencing from the public gallery with George's mother, Vicki Studholme, and a number of other neighbours.

The court heard the explosion, which happened at about 02:35 BST on 16 May 2021, destroyed the council-owned property where Greenham lived.

Darren Greenham boasted to witnesses that he would make £400 to buy a car from the pipework

It left two neighbouring terraced houses severely damaged and a further 55 properties in the area were also affected.

Greenham had cut a gas pipe in his own house while drunk and under the influence of drugs in the early hours of the morning and planned to sell the pipework, the court heard.

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The gas meter was also found to have been bypassed in order to steal gas, Lancashire Police said.

Detectives said he was intent on selling the cut pipes for scrap metal and had boasted to witnesses that he would make £400 to buy a car.

Two houses collapsed and a third was seriously damaged in the explosion

Sentencing him, Recorder of Preston Judge Robert Altham said he was a "selfish and disruptive neighbour".

"He lived his life without regard for the comfort of those who were unfortunate enough to live adjacent to him."

The judge praised George's parents, who have been living in a caravan since the blast, for their dignity and said he shared their "incomprehension" that anyone could put the lives of so many at risk for the sake of stealing "a few lengths of copper piping".

'Neighbour from hell'

In a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Ms Studholme described Greenham as a "neighbour from hell" who made her feel "unsafe" because he threatened violence to the family.

She said: "After the explosion, being trapped in the rubble was the most scared I had ever been in my life.

"This was until I arrived at the hospital to be told that George had died.

"Never ever have I felt so scared as in that moment of my life."

Mr Hinds told the court: "By Darren Greenham cutting a gas pipe to make a few quid I have lost my son, my absolute world."

The court heard Greenham, who suffered a serious head injury and lost much of the use of his right hand in the explosion, had been facing eviction proceedings when he cut the pipes in the property.

George's father said his son was "my absolute world"

Det Ch Insp Jane Webb (left) joined George's parents Stephen Hinds and Vicki Studholme outside court

Greenham showed no emotion in the dock as he was given concurrent sentences of one month for the charges of damaging the meter and theft of gas.

Speaking outside court, Det Ch Insp Jane Webb said: "Greenham is a purely selfish, self-centred, ignorant man whose blind stupidity of thinking that he could sell gas pipes to just make a bit of money was completely reckless with no regard for anybody's safety."

"It's his actions that have caused the death of George which are really unforgivable," she added.