A woman has been convicted of starting a fire that killed five members of a family in Prestatyn, north Wales.
Melanie Smith, 43, was found guilty at Mold Crown Court of murdering two adults and three children after she started a fire following a row about a pram.
Smith, who had denied the charges, will be sentenced on May 8.
Sky News Correspondent Adele Robinson said Smith shouted "Oh my God, no!" as the verdict was being read out.
She then appeared to collapse into the security guard on her right.
Lee-Anna Shiers, 20, her four-year-old nephew, Bailey, and two-year-old niece, Skye, died in the arson attack at their home on October 19 last year.
Charlie Timbrell died in hospital Firefighters managed to get Ms Shiers's 15-month-old son Charlie and his father Liam Timbrell, 23, from the first-floor flat, but they died later in hospital.
The jury returned the verdict after almost 15 hours of deliberations.
In addition to five counts of murder, Smith was also convicted of one count of making threats of arson.
Some relatives of the victims cried, while others shouted "Yes!" In the public gallery on a balcony above the courtroom there was also a short outburst of "No!"
Bailey and Skye Allen Smith lived in the flat below the victims.
Prosecutors say she deliberately set fire to a push chair because she was angry that Ms Shiers had left it in their shared hallway.
The court was told she carried out the "terrible and wicked deed" because she was "drunk and angry", disillusioned with her boyfriend, very unhappy in her flat and jealous of the woman who lived upstairs.
During the trial, the court heard a harrowing 999 call made by Mr Timbrell from the burning building, during which he was heard shouting: "Oh my God, oh my God! We're going to die."
The house after the blaze The jury also heard that Mr Timbrell told paramedics that "it was arson" and "it was Mel from downstairs".
Smith had "demonstrated anger and hostility" towards Ms Shiers and had threatened to set the house on fire following a series of rows, jurors heard.
Speaking outside court, Ms Shiers' parents, Joy and Peter Shiers, said they were "overjoyed" with the verdicts.
Mrs Shiers, who has attended every day of the trial, said: "I'm sorry for her (Smith's) family but for me and my family, we are so happy that we have got justice."
"There's no reason for what happened and we're never going to get a reason because she's still saying she's not done anything," she added.
Ms Shiers with Liam Timbrell "Anna was such a lovely, bubbly girl and Liam a very caring dad.
"Both of them were heroes because we know they would have done everything to rescue the children.
"The three kiddies loved each other, they played together all the time. They were our angels. Really, really nice people that will be missed."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Prestatyn Fire: Downstairs Neighbour Guilty
Dengan url
http://cucikakiku.blogspot.com/2013/05/prestatyn-fire-downstairs-neighbour.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Prestatyn Fire: Downstairs Neighbour Guilty
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Prestatyn Fire: Downstairs Neighbour Guilty
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar