'Too weak to hang coat on' – jockey fire evidence

LAWYERS for a man accused of killing two young jockeys in a flat fire told a jury yesterday the strength of the evidence against him was "not something you would hang an old coat on".

Peter Brown, 37, is accused of starting a fire in a block of flats in Norton, North Yorkshire, which killed Jan Wilson, 19, from Forfar, and Jamie Kyne, 18, from Kiltrogue, Co Galway, Ireland.

Paul Watson QC, defending, began his closing speech to the jury by saying the prosecution case was "flimsy" and "ailing".

He said: "We suggest the evidence in this case is not something you would hang an old coat on, let alone convict a man for the offence of murder. Apart from conjecture and theory, the prosecution has produced little or nothing in the way of good old-fashioned evidence."

The jury at Leeds Crown Court has heard how the prosecution case is that Brown started the blaze when he lit rubbish in the communal entrance to the flats in the early hours of 5 September last year. Brown was a former caretaker for the complex.

Prosecutors say Brown, who is originally from the Aberdeen area, torched the complex as a drunken act of revenge after he was refused entry to a party in one of the flats.

Miss Wilson and Mr Kyne were trapped in a top floor flat.

Brown, of Brotherton, North Yorkshire, denies two charges of murder, two charges of manslaughter and one of arson with intent to endanger life.

The case was adjourned.