Dyson Allen

Case details

Dyson Allen was convicted for starting a fire in a wardrobe in the children’s bedroom of a dormer bungalow in Freckleton, Lancashire, during a birthday party for the children’s mother, Michelle Smith. The fire killed four siblings: four-year-old twins Holly Smith and Ella Smith and brothers Jordan Smith, two, and Reece Smith, 19. All four died from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Allen was jailed for life with a minimum term of nine years three months after being sentenced on September 27, 2013.

Timeline

• January 7, 2012 — The fire broke out inside a wardrobe in the children’s bedroom at the dormer bungalow in Freckleton during Michelle Smith’s birthday party; Reece Smith went upstairs to try to rescue the other children and was overcome by fumes; the four siblings died from smoke inhalation.
• September 27, 2013 — Dyson Allen was sentenced to life imprisonment (minimum 9 years three months).
• September 27, 2013 — Dyson Allen was sentenced to life in prison (minimum 9 years).
• July 25, 2013 — A jury returned guilty verdicts on four counts of manslaughter at Preston Crown Court; sentencing was adjourned until September 27 for psychiatric reports.
• July 2013 — Dyson Allen was convicted of manslaughter at Preston Crown Court.
• June 11, 2013 — Dyson Allen was charged with the murder of Reece Smith, Holly Smith, Ella Smith and Jordan Smith; he denied four counts of murder and four alternative counts of manslaughter.
• March 4, 2013 — Dyson Allen pleaded not guilty to the murder of four siblings who died in a house fire in Lancashire; he was remanded in custody at Preston Crown Court to face trial on June 4, 2013.
• January 12, 2012 — Dyson Allen was arrested on suspicion of murder following the fire; police treated the fire as suspicious.
• January 12, 2012 — Investigators and post-mortem examinations treated the deaths as caused by smoke inhalation.

The offence

The fatal fire began inside a wardrobe in the children’s bedroom of the dormer bungalow in Freckleton, Lancashire, while Michelle Smith’s birthday party was being held downstairs for the children’s mother. Forensic experts told the jury the fire could not have been an accident and that a naked flame had been held against clothes in the wardrobe for a few seconds.

The children died from the effects of smoke inhalation. Reece Smith, 19, succumbed to the smoke after going back into the fire to try to save his brother and sisters.

Investigation

The prosecution presented the case that experts concluded the fire was started deliberately. One expert concluded the fire started in hanging clothes in the wardrobe and the most likely source of ignition was a naked flame. The fire was detected because of an electrical fault that caused the house electrics to trip out when the fire spread from the wardrobe to a lighting unit fitted to the ceiling of the room.

Allen’s own account included that he believed it was a power cut when the lights went out and that he opened the bedroom door and saw “orange glow” in a gap at the bottom, then experienced thick black smoke.

Post-mortem examinations concluded all four died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by smoke inhalation.

Arrest

Dyson Allen was arrested following the fire. He was held at an address in nearby Lytham and questioned at Blackpool police station. Police confirmed the fire was started inside a wardrobe.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Esseen said the fire was being treated as suspicious, and he urged people with information to come forward. He also said at that stage it was still unclear what happened in the lead-up to the fire starting. He confirmed no accelerant such as petrol had been used to start the blaze.

Trial

Allen was tried at Preston Crown Court. He faced charges of murder and alternative counts of manslaughter.

Pleas and course of trial

• Allen pleaded not guilty to murder.
• He also denied four alternative counts of manslaughter.
• He was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter and cleared of their murders.

Allen was tearful while denying the four counts of murder and four alternative counts of manslaughter. In evidence, he denied deliberately or accidentally starting the bedroom wardrobe fire, and he denied claims that he sprayed flaming aerosols at a house party in March 2011.

The jury foreman returned each guilty verdict on the manslaughter counts, and the victims’ family members shouted “yes” in tears as the guilty verdicts were returned.

Witness and evidence details

The court heard that Allen was the only other person upstairs when the fire broke out. The jury was told that Allen was a regular visitor who stayed overnight the evening before the blaze. The prosecution said several family friends were also in the house with Allen, and that Allen was a friend of another of Ms Smith’s sons.

A birthday party was being held for Michelle Smith at the address on the night of the fire.

Michelle Smith said the lights went off before Allen jumped down the stairs and shouted “Fire” before he ran through the kitchen and out of the back door. Michelle Smith told police that smoke alarms had been fitted at the top and bottom of the stairs, but that Reece Smith had taken them down in the days before the fire because one or both of them kept making beeping noises.

The recollection of most witnesses who attended the party was affected to some extent by drink and in some cases by drugs in the form of cannabis. A neighbour made the first 999 call to report a fire at 11.20pm.

A family friend who was sober went up to the bedroom where Allen was after 10.45pm. That friend said Allen appeared “drunk and stoned” after Allen had earlier told him was going to make a mix for a cannabis bong. A loud bang occurred shortly after, and the lights in the house went off.

Quotes from Allen in court

Allen described what he saw after opening the door and entering the smoke:

"I opened the door to check and all of a sudden thick black smoke just hit me in the face," he said. "It knocked me backwards. "I started shouting 'fire, fire' straight away."

Allen also gave answers in cross-examination:

• David Fish QC, defending, asked Allen: "Did you start that fire in the wardrobe at Lytham Road on January 7 last year?"
  • "No," the defendant replied.
• "Either accidentally or deliberately?"
  • "No," he said again.
• "Did you intend that night any harm to Jordan?"
  • "No."

The defendant repeated the same answer in relation to Ella, Holly and Reece when asked about intending harm.

Defence evidence about other fires

Allen accepted he had been involved with starting a fire in a locker at his high school when he was 15 and that he had lit fires in overgrown fields with friends but it was not close to houses. He said aerosol cans were used in the fields to ignite the flames on occasion to "increase the speed". He denied using a similar method at a house party in March 2011.

Character and substance-use evidence mentioned in court

Witnesses told the court Allen appeared “drunk and stoned” on the night of the fire. Allen told the jury he had first started using cannabis when he was 16 and that his use became “heavier” as he progressed to taking it on a weekly basis.

The jurors also heard that Allen had one previous conviction for common assault in September 2010 and two reprimands for theft and possession of cannabis resin.

Sentencing

Sentencing was adjourned until September 27 for the preparation of psychiatric reports.

Mr Justice Males told the court:

"There must be no doubt that it is inevitable there will be a substantial prison sentence."

At sentencing on September 27, 2013, Mr Justice Males said Allen had no motive to harm the children or anyone in the Smith family and that Allen started the blaze because he was “out of [his] head on a lethal combination of alcohol and cannabis” and had a “fascination with fire”, particularly when affected by drink or drugs. He also said:

that Allen had been "drunk and stoned" and that had he "not been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, four young people would still be alive and several other lives would not have been blighted".

The judge said:

"While you did not intend to cause serious harm to the children, you knew what you were doing in starting the fire and you had ample experience of the danger of fire," he said. "You only went downstairs to raise the alarm when the intense heat melted the aluminium light fitting causing the electricity to fail."

Allen was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of nine years three months.

Outcome

Dyson Allen was convicted of four counts of manslaughter. He was cleared of their murders.

Aftermath

After sentencing, Mrs Smith said in a statement read out after the sentence:

"shown no remorse or regret for his actions, still refusing to tell us, what exactly happened".
"Why or what he did, we still do not know."
"to live with the loss of the children each and every day".
"Every birthday that I have will be the anniversary of my children's deaths."

Mrs Smith added that the family wished to thank the “wonderful support” from the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and “the heroic attempts of the fire service, paramedics and medical staff” to save the siblings.

Detect Det Supt Dermott Horrigan said it was “one of the most tragic and significant cases that Lancashire has seen for a number of years, which has left the family and the whole community devastated”.

Horrigan added:

"Four innocent people died as a result of the actions of this man who has shown no remorse and lied throughout the investigation and court case."

Horrigan also said:

"He is the only person who knows why he started the fire. "You would like to think he will consider his position and what he has put the family through. "I hope he does that."

Group Manager Mark Hutton of Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service said:

"This was one of the most tragic fires Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service has ever attended."

Hutton said:

"Despite intense efforts on the night by fire fighters, paramedics and medical staff, 19-year-old Reece Smith, four-year-old twin girls Holly and Ella and their brother Jordan aged two, all lost their lives"

Hutton also said:

"The findings were examined further in live fire trials conducted inside a full scale reconstruction of the Lytham Rd dormer bungalow."

Joanne Cunliffe, Crown Advocate for CPS North West's Complex Casework Unit, said:

"The jury has today concluded that Dyson Allen was responsible for the fatal fire at a house in Freckleton last year in which four siblings lost their lives, and that he is guilty of their manslaughter."

Cunliffe also stated:

"Dyson Allen's actions in deliberately starting a fire in a bedroom where three young children were sleeping were truly wicked."

Cunliffe added:

"The heroic efforts of their brother, Reece, to rescue Holly, Ella and Jordan from the fire also led to the tragic loss of his own life."

Outside court, Detective Chief Superintendent Dermott Horrigan said the family and community had been devastated.

Allen’s denial included that he denied four counts of murder and four alternative counts of manslaughter, and after the verdicts a woman believed to be Allen’s mother stormed out of court and shouted:

"It's all her fault. If she hadn't had her f***** party none of this would have happened."

Other details

Family members and other named individuals

Michelle Smith was the children’s mother. Martin Goulding was described as Reece’s father. Reece Smith’s grandmother was Christine Smith, described as “children’s grandmother Christine Smith” and she was aged 57 in one account.

Another named relative was Colin Ostler, described as Michelle Smith’s former partner and aged 42 in one account. Bethany, Jodie, and Chloe were described as Colin Ostler and Michelle Smith’s daughters, with Bethany aged 11, Jodie aged 10, and Chloe aged 7.

A named child was Andrew Smith, aged 16 in one account. He followed his older brother Reece into the burning house but fled after being blocked by thick toxic smoke pouring out of the attic bedroom.

Earlier conduct and related statements described

In January 2012, it was stated that Allen posted a tribute to the victims on Facebook and that the tribute was misspelled. The tribute read:

'R.I.P Reece smith, Holly 'n' Ella smith, Jordan smith (banger). 'you all are going to be remembered by allot of broken hearts, Reece, you was a hero to us all, that's brave-heart my friend :( 'Banger, youll always be my lil boxer :'( Holly 'n' Ella, the most happiest twins you could see. :'( :'( 'keep on dancing strong in the heavens all you angles.'

A poetic tribute left at the scene by Keith Smith, 56, included the poem:

'The time here you really shone/ A short lives you had/ Now your gone [sic]. 'All my love was there to keep/ My life is broken all I do is weep.'
He signed the message with: 'Grandad Smith, love you forever, till we meet again'

Smoke alarms and fire response

Smoke alarms were described as fitted but not working when the fire started in one account. Multiple fire service accounts described breathing apparatus and the children being taken to the Royal Preston Hospital and declared dead. In one account, the mother had to be led to safety by firemen and was unharmed.

Prosecution and defence names mentioned

Prosecutor Neil Flewitt QC was mentioned. David Fish QC, defending, was mentioned. Detective Chief Inspector Neil Esseen was mentioned. Detect Det Supt Dermott Horrigan was mentioned. Group Manager Mark Hutton was mentioned. Joanne Cunliffe was mentioned.