Arson trial hears nuisance council tenant ‘set ferocious fire’ that killed two dogs at Portchester flat three days before she was due to be evicted

A FEROCIOUS flat fire that killed two dogs was deliberately set by a nuisance council tenant just three days before she was due to be evicted, a court heard.
Susan Thwaites, 57, of Noctule Court, Knowle, outside Portsmouth Crown Court. She is on trial accused of an arson at Kenwood Road in Portchester on July 24 in 2017Susan Thwaites, 57, of Noctule Court, Knowle, outside Portsmouth Crown Court. She is on trial accused of an arson at Kenwood Road in Portchester on July 24 in 2017
Susan Thwaites, 57, of Noctule Court, Knowle, outside Portsmouth Crown Court. She is on trial accused of an arson at Kenwood Road in Portchester on July 24 in 2017

Jurors at Portsmouth Crown Court were told Susan Thwaites, 57, set the lounge ablaze at her first-floor council flat at Kenwood Road in Portchester, where shouting, swearing, and the ‘comings and goings’ of people disturbed neighbours for years.

Jack Russell pets belonging to Thwaites, whose neighbours had given evidence against her a two-day eviction county court case, died under a bed as she and her partner Jay Hawkins were dragged to safety by 44-year-old friend Terry Robertson.

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Susan Thwaites, 57, of Noctule Court, Knowle, outside Portsmouth Crown Court. She is on trial accused of an arson at Kenwood Road in Portchester on July 24 in 2017Susan Thwaites, 57, of Noctule Court, Knowle, outside Portsmouth Crown Court. She is on trial accused of an arson at Kenwood Road in Portchester on July 24 in 2017
Susan Thwaites, 57, of Noctule Court, Knowle, outside Portsmouth Crown Court. She is on trial accused of an arson at Kenwood Road in Portchester on July 24 in 2017
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Body-worn video footage played in court today showed the chaotic aftermath as police, firefighters and medics swarmed the street. On video Mr Robertson, who has since died, told police: ‘She wanted to kill everyone. Everyone in her house, and her dogs.’

Just days before the fire Thwaites told a friend ‘because she was being evicted she would be burning her flat down with her dogs and herself inside,’ prosecutor Oliver Weetch told jurors.

Thwaites’ friend Mr Robertson had repeatedly put out her attempts to set fire to a yellow blanket in the living room but returned from the toilet to see an ‘impossible’ blaze at around 10.33am on July 24 in 2017, jurors heard.

Fire investigator Andrew Earle gave evidence at the trial of Susan Thwaites at Portsmouth Crown CourtFire investigator Andrew Earle gave evidence at the trial of Susan Thwaites at Portsmouth Crown Court
Fire investigator Andrew Earle gave evidence at the trial of Susan Thwaites at Portsmouth Crown Court

He dragged Thwaites and her 44-year-old partner Mr Hawkins out of the property but the defendants’ two dogs died inside.

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Mr Weetch said Thwaites initially told police responding to the incident that she ‘blamed her partner’ but then ‘pivoted and blamed Mr Robertson’.

Detailing Mr Robertson’s evidence to the jury, the prosecutor said: ‘What he says is that on the night or day in question, Miss Thwaites has been very down about being evicted, about the upcoming eviction, and said at one point she had enough and wanted to burn the place down with herself and the dogs inside.

‘And he recalls how she kept lighting a yellow blanket and how he had to put out the fires before he left for the toilet and when he came back the fire was alight and was impossible.

The fire in Kenwood Road, Portchester. Picture: @HampshireFireDogsThe fire in Kenwood Road, Portchester. Picture: @HampshireFireDogs
The fire in Kenwood Road, Portchester. Picture: @HampshireFireDogs

‘He managed to drag out both Jay Hawkins and Miss Thwaites from that property.’

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Reading a statement from Thwaites’ longtime friend Tracey Godman, who has also died since the fire, Mr Weetch said: ‘[Thwaites] would on a number of occasions make comments that because she was being evicted she would be burning her flat down with her dogs and herself inside by pouring petrol everywhere and she would not care about doing this.’

Fire investigator Andrew Earle, a firefighter for 30 years, told jurors the seat of the fire that destroyed the lounge was in the room, while there were also two smaller seats of fire in a bedroom – one of medication in a plastic bag on a mattress and another of burnt paper on a wardrobe.

Confirming no accelerant was found and that there was no electrical cause of the fire, he said : ‘It was most likely the result of a human act with a naked flame in to combustible materials in the centre of that room.’

Mr Weetch said: ‘It was plain a ferocious fire had taken place.’

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He added said: ‘The crown says that the evidence is consistent with Miss Thwaites being determined on the morning of July 24, [with] her impending eviction, to start a fire deliberately, knowing the consequences that would inevitably occur if you start a fire of that description - it spreads and causes danger to others.’

Thwaites, now of Noctule Court, Knowle, denies a charge of arson intent to endanger life, and an alternative charge of arson reckless as to whether life was endangered. No-one died in the blaze other than the two dogs.

(Proceeding)