Jockey murder trial jury sees footage of accused

THE jury in the trial of Peter Brown watched CCTV footage yesterday (Wednesday ) of the defendant's movements in the hours before the fire that killed apprentice jockeys Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson.

The court heard on Wednesday that, a short time before the blaze, Brown had been drinking and playing pool in a nearby bar - leaving at around 1.40am on September 5 last year.

And the last CCTV footage of the 37-year-old showed him walking towards his flat along a dimly lit street towards his home at 2.11am, when prosecutors then claimed he started the fatal blaze.

Jamie Kyne, 18, from Kiltrogue, Claregalway, Co Galway, and Jan Wilson, 19, of Forfar, Angus, died in the fire.

Brown, of Brotherton, North Yorkshire, denies two murder charges at Leeds Crown Court.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Brown had first tried to get served at the Railway Tavern, a pub opposite the block of flats that he lived in, in Malton, North Yorkshire, at around 12.10am - only to be told by the landlord that they had called last orders at midnight.

Landlord Steven Kinsella then advised the defendant to try the nearby Hyde Park pub which stayed open until 1am if he wanted another drink. Kinsella described Brown as "being slightly unsteady on his feet".

He went on to say that he saw the defendant later than night as he opened up the Railway Tavern as a congregation point for residents who had left their homes because of the fire.

Brown, whom he described as "very agitated", was the only one to ask for an alcoholic drink, the court heard.

"He asked for a pint and a double whiskey. I said 'no'. He said 'That's the second time you refused me tonight and it won't happen again," said Kinsella.

The landlord added that, while everyone in the bar was "calm and dignified", Brown was the only person continually walking up and down.

The court also heard from Susan Rice, the landlady of the Hyde Park public house, who remembered Brown coming in and ordering a double Jack Daniel's and a pint of Guinness.

When he asked for another drink at 1.40am she refused but her husband Steven gave him a bottle of lager to take home with him.

The court heard that while at the pub he played a several games of pool with the couple's son, Craig, and "seemed quite friendly".

CCTV footage of Brown walking along the road between pubs and across the bridge that joins Malton and Norton interspersed the witness statements - with Richard Mansell QC, prosecuting, directing the attention of the jury of six men and six women towards the time displayed on each clip.

The court also watched footage of Brown entering the Total garage near his home on two occasions on the evening of September 4 to buy cigarettes.

The prosecution alleges that Brown set fire to the flats in the early hours of September 5 last year as an act of "revenge" after he was refused entry to a party. Brown is alleged to have "deliberately lit" a pile of rubbish in the communal entrance to the block, using an accelerant, possibly white spirit.

The court has been told that the blaze "raged" through the building, forcing many of the occupants to jump for their lives.

Kyne and Wilson were trapped in flat five, on the top floor, and were unable to escape. Both died from smoke inhalation and burns.

The prosecution claims Brown, who also lived in the complex, had fallen out with the occupants of flat four and had been refused entry to a party in the flat on the night of the fire.

Brown also denies two alternative charges of manslaughter and one charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.

 

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