Romford firework death: Teenager guilty of manslaughter

The prosecutor said Josephine Smith's death was "a tragically random incident"

A teenager who dared a friend to stuff a firework through the door of a house - a prank that killed the resident - has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Josephine Smith, 88, is thought to have been asleep in bed when the lit firework caused two explosions in her home in Romford on 28 October 2021.

She was found dead after the blasts caused a fire to rip through her east London home.

Kai Cooper, 19, from Leatherhead, Surrey, was also convicted of arson.

During his Old Bailey trial, the court heard Cooper had visited a fireworks shop earlier that evening, telling the shopkeeper: "I want something that is going to go far and quick."

He later said: "People are going to get terrorised tonight", the court was told.

Kai Cooper was heard saying "people are going to get terrorised tonight" on the evening Mrs Smith died

Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Cooper, then 18, and his friend, then aged 15, walked towards Mrs Smith's house in Queens Park Road, where she lived alone.

While they walked, the pair set off fireworks in the street, next to a restaurant and a pub, near cars, and even towards frightened pedestrians, jurors were told.

"They acted as a team as they did this," Ms Stonecliffe said, with Cooper handing [the other teenager] the fireworks before they were lit and Kai encouraging him to do this.

According to a statement from Cooper's girlfriend, he had been laughing as his friend ran across the road to Mrs Smith's house.

The pensioner, who was unknown to the pair, died from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Her son Alan Smith said the family had been left "haunted" by the way his mother died.

The Met's Det Ch Insp Linda Bradley described the death as "heart-breaking" and "needless".

"The thoughtlessness of the actions which unfolded that night are incomprehensible, and tragically resulted in the most devastating consequences," she said.

Cooper was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at a later date at the Old Bailey.

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