Fire victim Jessica McCagh told father: 'I don't want to die'

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 17:10

A TEARFUL father told a murder trial today of the moment his daughter told him: "I don't want to die, dad."

• Jessica McCagh

Garry McCagh, 50, said he rushed to his 17-year-old daughter, Jessica, after being wakened by a knock on his door from the teenager accused of her murder.

Wiping away tears, Mr McCagh told the High Court in Livingston that he found Miss McCagh in a "very bad state" and took her from the building where it is alleged she was set on fire.

The evidence emerged on the fourth day of the trial of 18-year-old Stewart Blackburn.

Blackburn denies murdering Miss McCagh in Arbroath, Angus, in April this year by dousing her in petrol and setting fire to her.

Father-of-five Mr McCagh, who provides labourers for farms, told the trial how he was wakened by a "bang on the door" at his home in Fraser Path at about 3.45am on the morning of April 25 this year.

He said his wife, Marion, answered the door to find Blackburn, Miss McCagh's boyfriend, curled up into a ball and leaning against a pillar.

"My wife asked Stewart, 'What's the matter?' and Stewart said, 'Jessica, Jessica's dead.'

"That's when I ran down the street."

Mr McCagh said he ran towards Blackburn's house, not stopping once along the way.

"I ran through the entry. I saw black smoke," he told the trial.

"I just ran towards the front door. That's when I saw Jessica lying there."

Mr McCagh told how he put his head down because of the smoke and picked his daughter up, but she was "wet" and he lost his grip.

He told the court: "I got her again and I got her out. I put her on the grass."

Asked to describe his daughter's condition, he replied that she was in "a very bad state".

He told the trial: "She said, 'I don't want to die, dad'."

The court heard earlier how a teenager tried to save his friend Miss McCagh when he found her engulfed in flames and screaming out his name for help.

Ricci Foreman, 19, said she was "covered from head to toe in flames" and her face was melting.

He told the High Court in Livingston how he repeatedly filled a fish tank with water with which to douse the flames but the fire kept reigniting.

Earlier, Mr Foreman told the court how he heard an explosion, like a "big boom" from the flat below his Bloomfield Road property, followed by the sound of screaming.

He said he rushed downstairs to investigate and had to kick at the door four or five times before it would open.

He told the trial Blackburn passed him on his way out of the flat, saying: "Jessica's dead, Jessica's dead."

He told the court: "I could still hear Jessica screaming. The whole house was orange from the colour of the flames.

"I was standing in the hallway as Jessica came out with her arms in front of her, shouting, 'Help me Ricci, help me'."

He described how Miss McCagh was "covered from head to toe in flames" and a duvet wrapped around her was melting to her.

"Her face was melting," he told the jury.

Mr Foreman said he ran to the kitchen, where he repeatedly filled a fish tank with water to throw over Miss McCagh, who was on the ground.

"The heat was unbearable, it was like really hot, sticky heat," he said.

He went on: "The main thing was just to try and save my friend."

But he told how despite his efforts to throw water on her, the flames kept re-igniting.

"I didn't expect her to go back on fire, I'd never seen that before," he said.

He also told the court: "She just continued screaming, shouting 'help me Ricci, help me', that's what filled me with adrenaline, just trying to save my friend.

"She was still awake, but she was weak as anything."

Mr Foreman said he managed to pull Miss McCagh from the flat by her legs and he passed out shortly afterwards.

The court also heard Mr Foreman told police Blackburn appeared to be "upset" after the fire and said he wished he was dead.

Paramedic John Salmond, 36, later told the court he attended to Jessica in the early hours of April 25 and agreed that she had "extensive burns".

He said: "From the initial contact with Jessica, I realised we were dealing with something very serious."

Around 90% of her body was burned, he said.

Another paramedic, Angela McKenzie, 35, recounted a conversation she had with Blackburn about the fire.

She said: "He said that he had a can of petrol from his motorbike sitting on top of the bed with no lid on it. It had fallen over and soaked the bed.

"He then moved it on to the floor beside the bed and I think he said it had fallen over on to the floor as well.

"His girlfriend had then gone to bed. He had left the room then came back into the room, where he went to light a cigarette and the room exploded."

Blackburn denies murdering Miss McCagh.

His offer to plead guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide has not been accepted by the Crown.

The trial, before Lord Bracadale, continues on Monday.