A FIREFIGHTER who died battling a blaze deliberately started by two
15-year-old girls was unlawfully killed, a jury has found.
Father-of-two Stephen Hunt, 38, was found collapsed inside Paul’s Hair World
in Manchester’s Northern Quarter while trying to tackle the fire.
The two girls – who are now aged 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons –
made a selfie video from the scene, admitting starting the fire while
smoking cigarettes at the rear of the building in Oldham Street.
They could now face prosecution in light of the jury’s ruling.
The girls were both arrested by cops at the time of the fire and girl B went
on to be charged with committing arson and being reckless as to whether life
was endangered.
But prosecutors dropped the charge three days before the trial, saying “accidental
ignition” could not be ruled out.
However, senior coroner for Manchester Nigel Meadows said that he would now
report his findings to the Crown Prosecution Service who will decide on what
action if any should be taken.
A statement from Stephen Hunt’s mother Susan and step-father Wilf was today
released following the jury’s verdict.
It said: “It’s always difficult to know what to say about Stephen, there’s
always so much that needs to be told – and if we left anything out, it would
not be a true picture.
“Stephen always had a smile on his face, people knew him for his grin. He was
just someone who didn’t like seeing anyone anything other than happy.
“His life was geared around his family. His children, Sam and Charlotte, meant
the world to him. As a mother and step-father, we were lucky enough to have
him. He was loving and caring.
“His brother and sister, Christopher and Sarah, couldn’t have asked for a
better bigger brother. A hug and a kiss were important to him – we got them
every time, never fail.
“In his early years, he spent lots of time with his grandparents – two people
who he loved dearly and were very proud of what he became.
“Stephen’s ideal life was about protecting people. His army career progressed
to the fire service. Being a firefighter made Stephen so proud. He loved his
life with his other family.”
It continued: “He was always a proud man. Anything he did and worked for he
did with fierce determination – and usually got there.
“He could not have been more proud of his children, his two families and his
job. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service could not have had a better
man on their side.
“We will always be proud of Stephen, he had so much pride in everything he did
and it just rubbed off. He was that sort of man. He made a lasting
impression on everybody who came across him.
“There are grown men out there – as well as women and children – who will
never get over losing Stephen. He was too bright a star to go out when he
did. You don’t get over that. There are lots of unhappy people around
suffering from the loss of Stephen.
“It’s easy to say – and we hear cliches all the time – but there’s nothing
more fitting than to say Stephen died doing what he loved.”
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In evidence to the inquest both girls insisted that they had put out their
cigarettes just before the fire at around 2.46pm on July 13, 2013.
One teen witness claimed that one of the girls had admitted that she had
pushed a lit piece of paper through the doorway.
An expert fire investigation officer told the jury it was “unlikely”
that a discarded cigarette had sparked the blaze and it was more likely to
have been a lit leaflet pushed under the doorway that ignited the cardboard.
The 11 jurors at Manchester’s Civil Justice Centre had been shown the selfie
footage as part of the six weeks’ worth of evidence which heard from over 50
witnesses.
In the video – made public by the police, one of the girls – identified only
as Girl A can be seen to say, “we’re not very happy because we started
a fire we actually didn’t mean to, seriously”.
Girl B then adds, “oh god” before saying: “I put a flyer under.
I didn’t know it would set on fire. I saw a flame and ignored it.”
Girl B went on to be charged with committing arson and being reckless as to
whether life was endangered, but prosecutors dropped the charge three days
before the trial was due to begin citing that accidental ignition could not
be ruled out.
However, senior coroner for Manchester Nigel Meadows said that he would now
report his findings to the Crown Prosecution Service who will decide on what
action if any should be taken.
County Fire Officer and Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue
Service, Peter O’Reilly, today described Mr Hunt as a “hero”
“We feel the same today as we did when we lost Stephen three years ago
and that is utterly, utterly devastated.
“The inquest has heard and seen some harrowing evidence over seven weeks of
intense scrutiny. It has been hard on everyone but our thoughts are always
with Stephen’s family first and foremost, who have conducted themselves with
dignity and grace despite having to hear and see the most terrible
information anyone could hear or see about their son or brother or dad.
“We cannot bring Stephen back and we cannot change the events of that day, as
much as we would give everything we have to do so. What we can do is learn
from the mistakes that were made to ensure we never face anything like this
again.”
Visibility was virtually nil when Mr Hunt entered the building with his
colleague Jeremy Jones.
Jurors said that although safety measures were in place, they had not been
carried through between the shift handovers as the day went on.
This resulted in the brief being misinterpreted by the new sector commander.
The pair were in the building for around half an hour before Mr Hunt and Mr
Jones tried to leave – but became disorientated and separated before Mr
Hunt’s air ran out.
A lack of communication and information at handovers and briefings contributed
to his death as well as misinterpretation of instructions, a breakdown in
radio communication, the internal layout of the building, inadequate fire
risk assessment and acts of vandalism and criminal damage, jurors found.
Chief fire officer Peter O’Reilly apologised to Mr Hunt’s family for errors
made on the day he died.
He added: “I am sorry for anything anyone from the Service did or did not do
that might have changed the outcome for Stephen’s family.
“It’s clear from the evidence we got some things wrong, although some of
Stephen’s colleagues acted with tremendous bravery to try and save his life
too.
“As a Service we will now seek to make every conceivable improvement to
protect every firefighter who so proudly wears our badge to protect the
communities of Greater Manchester.
“Stephen was a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice doing a job he loved
and I owe it to his memory to do everything I can to ensure this never
happens again.”
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