Flat fire alarm 'may have failed'

Peter Brown denies murder and alternative charges of manslaughter

A fire at a block of flats in which two jockeys died was either started deliberately or there was a failure of the alarm system, a court heard.

Jamie Kyne, 18, from County Galway, in the Irish Republic, and Jan Wilson, 19, from Forfar in Angus, died in the fire at flats near Malton, North Yorkshire.

Peter Brown, 37, of Brotherton, North Yorkshire, denies murder.

Fire investigation expert Philip Reed was questioned by a prosecutor at Leeds Crown Court.

The prosecution claim Mr Brown started the fire at the Buckrose Court complex when he lit rubbish in the communal entrance on 5 September 2009.

Act of revenge

Mr Reed, who has more than 30 years' experience as a firefighter and consultant, was asked whether there was any evidence that the fire could have begun much earlier as a smouldering fire which, for some reason, burst into flames.

The expert said there was no physical evidence of a smouldering fire but added he could not rule out the possibility.

The jockeys died in the fire at Buckrose Court

Under further questioning, Mr Reed also agreed that such a fire would have gone through various stages of development, which should have triggered multiple fire alarms in the block before the fire which eventually did trigger the alarm system.

Prosecutor Richard Mansell QC asked Mr Reed: "Either the alarm must have disastrously failed them or this was a deliberately-lit free-flaming fire from the start?"

Mr Reed said: "I agree, sir. Or a combination of both."

The prosecution claims Mr Brown set fire to the complex as an act of revenge after he was refused entry to a party in one of the flats.

Mr Brown, who has declined to give evidence at his trial, denies two murder charges, two alternative charges of manslaughter and one charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.