Jurors discharged in ‘nuisance’ council tenant’s arson trial

JURORS have been discharged from the trial of a nuisance council tenant accused of torching her flat in a blaze that killed two dogs.
By Ben Fishwick
Published 6th Feb 2019, 16:01 BST
Updated 11th Feb 2019, 09:40 BST
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.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.
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.

Susan Thwaites’ trial at Portsmouth Crown Court this morning heard evidence about the fire at her first-floor flat in Kenwood Road, Portchester, on July 24, 2017.

The prosecution case against Thwaites, 57, was that she set the fire in the days before she was due to be evicted.

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But after the lunch break judge David Melville QC discharged the jury with a re-trial due to take place on February 25.

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.