Heroin user father tried in vain to rescue son from burning house - inquest

A desperate father ran into his burning home to save his 16-month old son but failed, an inquest heard today.

Heroin user Jason Edwards had been preparing lunch for his son George at their home in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, when a fire broke out in the living room, taking the toddler's life.

An inquest at Kettering Magistrates Court today heard Mr Edwards desperately tried to save his son, suffering burns as he tried to rescue him from the blaze on February 24 last year.

A statement from witness David Purnell, read to the court by Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember, described how he heard Mr Edwards shouting for help.

He said that as he looked over the fence at the back of the house in Kestrel Lane, he saw the fire downstairs.

"The fire was about waist height and some of the flames were coming out of the window into the garden," he said.

"Inside the room was black with smoke. I ran round to the front of the house, the front door was open and smoke was billowing out.

"I could see the cat and dog running about inside. I went into the house to save them.

"The only thing I could hear was the geezer shouting in the back garden, he was shouting, 'George, George'."

Mr Purnell said that when he went to the back garden he found Mr Edwards trying to use water to extinguish the blaze.

He said: "He seemed to be trying really hard to put the fire out but getting nowhere.

"I also recall him shouting, 'my boy, my boy', and I said, 'it can't be done mate'."

"At this time the fire was really raging. I could see flashes all over the window. The man ran into the house through the back door and I lost sight of him.

"It seemed like ages he was in there. He eventually came out of the door.

"His face was black and red, covered in blisters, his knuckles were red and black too. I noticed he was bare chested and his skin was black.

"He was saying, 'my boy George'. He tried to go back into the house but I stopped him."

When the fire service arrived someone brought over a bucket of water and Mr Purnell described how Mr Edwards' hands "sizzled" as he put them in.

During today's inquest George's distraught parents, who held hands throughout, sobbed as they heard the evidence.

Mr Edwards' statement, also read to the court, described meeting George's mother Claire Roberts in 2002.

He said she worked while he looked after their son at their home in Kestrel Lane.

Mr Edwards said he had taken heroin the night before, and again that morning.

He said: "It makes me feel alive. In the past I had a bad heroin habit and used to commit crime to support my habit."

But he said he had stayed off the drug for seven years, now using it only at certain times.

He said that after she left for work on the morning of February 24 he smoked heroin in bed and watched television in bed.

He said George was playing in the living room while he made him some lunch.

A two-bar electric fire was on in the lounge as it was a cold day, the inquest heard.

Mr Edwards said he heard a scream from the lounge and saw it was engulfed in flames.

"It happened in a second," he said. "I couldn't get to George.

"It was just orange. It seemed like a bunsen burner. It was roaring like someone was standing there with a gas cylinder.

"At no time did I leave the house that morning and I was in the house when the fire started and did all that I could to try and save George."

Firefighter Richard Stephenson, who went into the house to try and save George, said a first search of the house by him and another fireman found nothing, but when they searched the lounge a second time they found George's body.

Post mortem examinations showed the toddler suffered burns and also had soot in his mouth, windpipe, lungs, oesophagus and stomach.

The inquest heard he would have been overcome very quickly by the smoke, and cause of death was given as inhalation of smoke and products of combustion.

An investigation of the scene by experts found a likely cause of the blaze was the electric fire.

Fire officer Neil Imrie said the fire would have taken hold relatively quickly and, because there was no door between the lounge and the rest of the house, would have grown quickly because of the extra oxygen.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Coroner Anne Pember today warned parents of leaving children alone and also of using illicit drugs while around youngsters.

She said: "I have to say at this inquest that parents should be extremely vigilant when caring for babies and young children who should never be left alone in a room containing an electrical or gas fire or indeed a burning fire, not for a second.

"I must also say it is foolhardy to take any illicit substance while having the care of a baby or young child."