A jury in the trial of a man accused of setting fire to a block of flats in the UK killing two young jockeys, including Claregalway native Jamie Kyne, has heard that he sent “creepy” text messages to a teenage girl and had committed the arson attack as an act of revenge.
Leeds Crown Court heard witness testimony yesterday alleging that the accused, 37-year-old Peter Brown, had sent a series of inappropriate and disturbing text messages to a girl who had been a resident at the Buckrose Court flats in Norton, near Malton in North Yorkshire, where a fire had broken out several months later claiming the lives of 18-year-old Kyne, from Kiltrogue, Co Galway, and fellow apprentice jockey Jan Wilson (19 ), from Forfar in Scotland.
During the trial, which began on Tuesday, the jury also heard details of the prosecution’s case which claimed that Brown, on a cocktail of alcohol and cocaine, had deliberately set the fire in the ground floor hallway of the flat complex on September 5, 2009, after being refused entry to a party.
Brown of School Croft, Botherton, North Yorkshire, had denied two counts of murder, two alternative charges of manslaughter, and one charge of arson with intent to endanger life.
On day two of the trial, Joseph Thorpe gave evidence that his girlfriend, Jordan Lambert, had received “creepy” messages from Brown in May 2009. He said that he remembered cringing when he read them. The court further heard that Miss Lambert had got to know Brown, who had lived in a neighbouring flat and had sometimes acted as the caretaker. Mr Thorpe said that on May 16 last year Brown and his friend had been in Lambert’s flat along with a number of other people. He said that an argument involving Brown’s friend had broken out and everyone began to leave the flat. As the group of friends, many of whom work in the racing industry, walked to a pub in Malton, Brown began sending Lambert (17 ) the text messages. Mr Thorpe said that his girlfriend became increasingly distressed as Brown continued to send the messages into the early hours.
On Tuesday, Richard Mansell, QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Brown had held a grudge against the occupants of Flat 4, that he had been overheard threatening to “torch the place”, and that on September 5 Brown deliberately lit the fire which killed two promising young jockeys.
Mr Mansell said that Brown committed the offence because of the humiliation he felt at the hands of the occupants of Flat 4 who accused him of making unwanted advances to women and refused him entry to a party. After drinking at local pubs, Brown returned to the flat complex at 2am and set fire to rubbish piled up in a stairwell at a communal entrance, using an accelerant thought to be white spirit.
The court heard that Kyne and Wilson, who had been staying with her boyfriend Ian Brennan, were asleep in flat 5, on the top floor, as the fire raged through the building. Kyne’s body was said to have been found in this bedroom while Wilson was discovered in the living room. Both died from smoke inhalation and burns. Five fire alarms activated but many residents became trapped by the blaze and had to jump to safety from windows and climb down drainpipes.
Relatives of the two victims have been present in court throughout the trial and had to be comforted yesterday as a 999 emergency call was played to the jury.
The trial continues
