Fire-death father ‘got what he deserved’

A MAN accused of murder told a friend that a father who died in a house fire with his two children had “got what he deserved”, a court has heard.

Unemployed Simon Fraser, 47, told the High Court in Glasgow that he had met Scott Snowden, 37, in a restaurant in Helensburgh several days after a fatal fire in the town in which Thomas Sharkey Snr, 55, and his two children died on 24 July, 2011.

Mr Fraser was asked by Advocate Depute Alex Prentice if they had discussed the fire. He replied: “I just said it was such a horrible thing to have happened.” He told the court Snowden replied: “‘He got what he deserved’, or words to that effect.”

The court heard Mr Fraser later told police: “Scott looked at me and said: ‘I have had run-ins with him in the past. I am not surprised what happened to him. He deserved what he got’.”

Snowden and Robert Jennings, 50, deny murdering three members of the Sharkey family.

Thomas Sharkey Jnr, 21, and his eight-year-old sister Bridget died in the blaze at their home. Thomas Sharkey Snr died of his injuries in hospital six days later.

Snowden and Jennings face 22 charges, all of which they deny. The trial continues.