Could CCTV have provided evidence on fire deaths?

Published on 4th September 2008 in News

Humberside Police Authority this week re-considered and approved a grant application for CCTV cameras in Holme-On-Spalding-Moor amid claims that, if they have been installed earlier, they may have provided evidence in the investigation into a mystery garage blaze that claimed the lives of two local teenagers.

The funding application from Holme-on-Spalding-Moor Village Hall Committee was discussed at a meeting of the authority's communities and partnerships committee on Tuesday. However, an original application submitted last year had been filtered out at an earlier stage of the grant allocation process.

A supporting letter submitted with the latest grant application highlighted the fact that footage from the existing cameras was viewed by police investigating the fire that killed Daniel Allan and Ryan Steels, who were both aged 14, in May of this year. It is suggested that, if the original grant had been approved last year, the cameras may have been able to provide evidence for use in the police investigation.

Village Hall Committee chairman Nick Evans explained: "The idea is that one of the additional cameras will look towards the main road and give a view that would possibly have given police an idea of people's movements on the night of the fire and helped to identify potential witnesses. The new cameras will give us complete coverage of the area and this should also help us to tackle the problem of littering."

The bid was for a total of £1,176 in funding, which will enable three new cameras to be located around the village hall, improving the quality of the images provided and extending the area covered by the existing CCTV system.

Funding for the cameras will come from the Police Property Act Fund, which is raised through the sale of property that comes into the possession of the police when the rightful owners can't be identified.

John Mabbet, Humberside Police Authority's communities and partnerships manager, said: "The fund is used to allocate grants to community groups across the region. The application for the CCTV camera fitted our criteria when it was first considered last December, but we can only put so many bids forwards for consideration by the committee. However, we have since been asked to reconsider the bid from a community safety point of view and I'm pleased to say that the committee agreed to make the award."

Inquest date set

A date has been set for the inquest into the death of two teenagers from Holme-on-Spalding-Moor who lost their lives following an horrific blaze in the village earlier this year.

Daniel Allan and Ryan Steels, who were both aged 14 and lived next door to one another on Chestnut Drive, were tragically killed when fire tore through the garage of an empty house a short distance away from their own homes.

Although Humberside Police initially treated the fire as suspicious, they have since confirmed that the death of the two teenagers is not being treated as a criminal investigation. A file on the matter has been sent to the coroner and the inquest will take place on 15 and 16 October.