Caught on CCTV: Chilling words as teen is sold fireworks used to kill pensioner during rampage

CCTV footage (click to play above) from 'Fireworks 4 U' shows the chilling moment when a shopkeeper recommends two teenagers to buy 'air bombs' after one of them said they planned to through fireworks at police.

They wanted to throw fireworks at people

They were sold the fireworks by Mark Vardy, 59, in October 2021 - who gave them the products after being told they wanted to throw them in people’s faces - which can all be heard in the video (sound on).

Callum Dunne, then 15, and Kai Cooper, then 18, went on a rampage through Harold Wood, East London and threw fireworks at drivers and businesses, before posting one through the front door of an 88 year old grandmother - who died as a result of smoke inhalation.

Died of smoke inhalation

Josephine Smith, who was hard of hearing, remained asleep in her bed at her home in Romford, Essex, and was found dead from smoke inhalation hours later. The teenagers were convicted of manslaughter and Dunne was sentenced at the Old Bailey to three years and eight months in prison, while Cooper was handed five years.

Failed to hand over CCTV

Vardy, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, was given a 12 months suspended sentence earlier this month after pleading guilty to two counts of selling fireworks to a 15-year-old. He repeatedly failed to hand over the incriminating CCTV to police and his son Luke Vardy, 29, handed over only snippets with no audio.

Josephine's son Alan, 55, says he asked the police to release the footage so people can see the 'level of irresponsibility shown by Mark Vardy.' Alan said: "It was important to us as a family that the police released this footage.

Call to increase age to 21 for buying fireworks

"We wanted the wider community to see the level of irresponsibility shown by Mark Vardy that night and why it was that he ended up in court. He was supposed to be a responsible adult and certainly should have known better and known the risks involved with such an irresponsible sale. He didn’t sell those fireworks to those kids by accident. The boys told him exactly what their intentions were."

Josephine’s family want the age for buying fireworks to be increased to 21, and for a minimum spend of £50 to be imposed. They also want more regular checks on fireworks vendors, to make sure they are acting responsibly.

‘These are essentially small bombs’

Alan said: "This should discourage irresponsible youths from purchasing individual fireworks to cause mayhem. The youths that took mum’s life bought ten mega burst fireworks for £8.99. These are essentially small bombs. It makes no sense to me that this was possible.”

You can visit the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/change-legislation-around-sale-and-use-of-fireworks.