Family killed in 'revenge arson attack by jilted ex-boyfriend'

Innocent: Ten-year-old Patricia Carter died in the fire.
13 April 2012

A ten-year-old girl was seen screaming for help from a window after her home was set ablaze by a convicted killer in revenge for being dumped by her elder sister, a court heard today.

Neighbours tried desperately to reach Patricia Carter but were beaten back by the ferocity of the flames engulfing the house and she died along with 16-year-old Samantha and their brother Marcus, seven.

Their mother Amanda was away from the house working nights at the time, but her partner, 44-year-old Roddy Hine, also died in the blaze.

Police had to contact her at the nursing home where she worked and tell her they were all dead.

Yesterday a court was told the fire had been started by Mark Goldstraw after Samantha told him to stay away from her and changed her mobile phone number to stop him pestering her.

Goldstraw had been jailed for seven years in 2001 for manslaughter after battering to death a married woman with whom he was having an affair after she refused to leave her husband, the jury were informed. At the end of the sentence he was released on licence.

Christopher Hotten, QC, prosecuting, said this suggested the 31-year-old had "a propensity or inclination towards extreme violence in the face of rejection".

In the days after the blaze, Mr Hotten said: "It quickly became clear that these appalling events were not the result of some dreadful accident but, we say beyond doubt, of considered, calculated and deliberate arson carried out with murderous intent.

"We say he (Goldstraw) made plans to take revenge upon Samantha and her family to deal with the rejection."

Last year Samantha formed a relationship "of sorts" with Goldstraw after meeting him through Mr Hine, who shared his love of motorcycles, he said.

He was given a front door key to Mr Hine's semi-detached house in Cheddleton, Staffordshire where Mrs Carter and the three children also lived so he could look after it while they were on holiday, the court was told.

But he became jealous and obsessive, and by Christmas, Samantha had tired of his attentions and asked him to leave her alone, said Mr Hotten.

Goldstraw began sending her abusive texts, saying he could not live without her and even threatening to kill her and her family, he added.

Mrs Carter, who also has a 19-year-old son, Christopher, who lived with her estranged husband Mark, gave evidence yesterday about how Samantha had tried to get Goldstraw to leave her alone.

Jurors wiped tears from their eyes as she said: "He started pestering her - one minute saying he loved her, the next calling her names."

Goldstraw even told them - falsely - that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in a bid to win her sympathy.

Mrs Carter, 36, who spoke from behind a screen, said Samantha had eventually asked him to leave her alone and changed her mobile phone number.

On the evening of March 9 he allegedly rode his motorbike from his mother's bedsit in Leek where he was staying to nearby Cheddleton with a holdall containing at least one can of petrol, a tealight and a cigarette lighter.

The trial at Stafford Crown Court was told that Goldstraw probably let himself in at about 11.30pm, spread petrol around the hallway and set the fire.

The resulting petrol vapour explosion woke the neighbours, one of whom heard Marcus's chilling screams through their shared wall, and some rushed outside to see his sister Patricia trapped in the front bedroom.

But the intensity of the blaze that followed meant no-one could be saved - fire officers said it was the worst they had ever seen.

Meanwhile Goldstraw is alleged to have run from the scene to the pub where he had concealed his motorbike, ridden back to the home of his mother, Lucia, and taken a shower.

He was arrested the following morning but refused to comment on his whereabouts the previous evening.

Police found his fleece, jeans and trainers in a wheelie-bin outside his mother's home, Mr Hotten said. They smelt strongly of petrol and bore scorch marks.

A teddy bear, necklace, pair of earrings and watch identified by Mrs Carter as belonging to Samantha were found in his leather jacket, he added.

And a holdall found discarded close to the scene of the fire contained petrol residues and fibres matching Goldstraw's fleece.

In addition, the jury were told that a witness who saw a man running from the blaze had identified him as Goldstraw.

Mr Hotten said Goldstraw had been convicted of manslaughter in 2001 for battering his lover Deborah Wheatley to death with a mallet after she said she would not leave her husband for him.

He was released on licence from his seven-year sentence in October 2004.

While this might be "an unfortunate coincidence", he said, it could explain "why this man, of all men, would react with murderous violence when others would not have done".

Goldstraw is charged with four counts of murder, all of which he denies. He later claimed he was riding his bike around Leek at the time of the fire.

The case continues.

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