Stafford factory was 'rammed with fireworks' when fatal fire started
The owner of a fireworks factory where two people died in a catastrophic blaze confessed to paramedics that it was ‘rammed with explosives’ and that he ‘would go to prison for what happened’, a court heard.
The chain reaction of explosions was so fierce that it prevented rescue services reaching employee Simon Hillier, aged 41, and customer Stewart Staples, 57, who were trapped inside the SP Fireworks building.
Owner Richard Pearson, 43, who was himself critically injured in the fire on October 30, 2014, is accused of causing their deaths by gross negligence in failing to take reasonable care in the storage and handling of explosives.
Stafford Crown Court today heard that Pearson was licensed to store up to 250kg of fireworks at the warehouse in Tilcon Avenue in Baswich, Stafford, but had stored potentially 10 times that amount.
Mr Allan Compton, prosecuting, said the initial source of the blaze had not been identified but the jury heard that Mr Hillier, a kickboxing champion from Featherstone Kickboxing Club, had been preparing mortars for a display inside the unit instead of outside, against safety regulations.
He was also using a Stanley knife to cut cables, risking a spark from the blade.
Just after 5pm, Mr Staples, a laboratory manager for Staffordshire County Council, called in to buy fireworks for a party he and his wife Angela were attending that night, the court heard.
Outside, van driver Jonathon Collins was loading his vehicle when he heard a ‘crackle, thump and bang’ and saw what looked like a big firework going off in the shop, said Mr Compton.
Within minutes the warehouse was ablaze with fireworks coming out of the roof, doors and windows.
More than 50 firefighters battled to contain the incident. It is estimated there were £10,000 worth of fireworks inside at the time.
The court heard that Pearson had taken a large delivery of fireworks from China just days earlier in the run-up to Bonfire Night and Diwali, which was stored at a second site in Lower Drayton Farm near Penkridge.
Staff had been transporting the explosives to the Baswich outlet for preparation and sale to the public.
The prosecution alleges that boxes of fireworks were packed too closely together at Tilcon Avenue and that inadequate controls were in place to prevent the spread of any fire.
The jury also heard that against fireworks storage regulations, the warehouse joined two other units like a row of terraced houses.
Mr Compton said: “It is the prosecution case that the failures identified are so fundamental and so serious that they can be properly be categorised as gross failures.
“Without them, we say that in all likelihood both Mr Hillier and Mr Staples would have survived the initial ignition as opposed to the sudden and fatal series of explosions that followed.
“His comments to paramedics treating him included stating that the premises was ‘rammed with explosives’ and that he ‘would go to prison’ for what had happened.”
In police interview, the defendant denied that Mr Hillier was preparing mortars.
Pearson, of Holyrood Close, Stafford, denies the manslaughter of father-of-one Mr Hillier and father-of -three Mr Staples, who were both from Hednesford.
The trial continues.
