Labourer guilty of killing jockeys in Malton blaze (with video)

Background: Self-styled drunken Scotsman with a raft of personal problems - with video of Peter Brown in the police interrogation room

The victims: Two promising careers cut short

Peter Brown was cleared yesterday of murdering Jamie Kyne and Jan Wilson but unanimously convicted of their manslaughter in the blaze at Buckrose Court, Norton, in the early hours of September 5 last year.

A former caretaker at the flats, who lived in an adjoining block to the converted tannery where they perished, the 37-year-old was also found not guilty of arson intending to endanger life.

Jamie, 18, from Co Galway and Jan, 19, from Forfar, Scotland, died from smoke inhalation after they were trapped in a second floor flat as the blaze ripped through the building.

Friends and relatives of the two teenagers said "yes" and some were in tears as the guilty verdicts were given by the foreman, after the jury had deliberated over two days at Leeds Crown Court.

Brown showed no emotion as he was remanded in custody for reports. The judge, Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, told him she wanted to have all information to assess "the danger you pose".

She thanked the six-woman, six-man jury for their careful attention to the case and told the families of the two jockeys: "You have attended every day. My thanks to you for the dignity you have shown."

The court heard on the evening of September 4, Brown was refused entry to a party being held in Flat 4 on the first floor of the block.

He had previously fallen out with the girls living there and one, Lizzie Murphy, who was hosting the gathering, told him in no uncertain terms from her window he was not welcome.

Richard Mansell QC prosecuting said Brown brooded about his rejection while drinking in local pubs and when he returned in the early hours deliberately started a fire in the ground-floor entrance where furniture and items stored in the entrance area to the wooden staircase.

Trevor Lund, group manager of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service's community risk section said: "We are continuing to look at the issues surrounding the incident in terms of the regulatory enforcement requirements relevant to the fire."

After the verdicts the jockeys' families issued a joint statement saying: "Peter Brown has robbed us of two wonderful young people who had so much to live for.

"When Jan and Jamie died, a part of each one of us died with them.

"He has left us all shattered and our lives will never be the same again.

"We are pleased he has now been held accountable for the devastating events of last September, however no punishment will ever bring Jan and Jamie back."

Jan's mother Margaret Wilson described Brown as a danger to society.

District Crown Prosecutor Jan Hills said Brown had cruelly snuffed out youthful potential "all for the sake of a perceived slight."

Lizzie Murphy's father Mick said she believed she was targeted by Brown because she stood up to him and set her face against his drug use in the flats.

Det Chief Inspector Alan Carey who led the police investigation hoped the verdicts would bring some comfort to the families.