Labourer guilty of killing jockeys in torched flat

A labourer was today found guilty of killing two promising young jockeys when he torched a block of flats in a drunken revenge attack.

The relatives of Galway native Jamie Kyne, 18, and Jan Wilson, 19, said Peter Brown had robbed the families of “two wonderfully young people who had so much to live for”.

Brown, 37, was cleared of murder but found guilty of the manslaughter of the riders following a 16-day trial at Leeds Crown Court.

The jury heard Brown set light to a block of flats at Buckrose Court in Norton, North Yorkshire in England, in a drunken revenge attack.

The blaze ripped through the block killing Kyne, from Kiltrogue, Co Galway and Wilson, from Forfar, Scotland.

The court heard Brown, who is originally from the Aberdeen area of Scotland, torched the complex after he was refused entry to a party in one of the flats last September.

Brown, who looked straight at the jury foreman as the verdicts were delivered, was acquitted of arson with intent to endanger life.

The jury of six men and six women took 13 hours to reach their verdicts.

Friends and relatives of the two victims said “yes” as the manslaughter verdicts were delivered and comforted each other in the public gallery.

The jury heard that Brown – who had a long-standing problem with drink – worked as a caretaker in the flats complex and had a prickly relationship with the women who lived in the flat where the party was taking place.

The two jockeys slept on the floor above where the party had been.

The jury was told that a drunken Brown used white spirit to set light to rubbish in the stairwell after he returned from a drinking session in local pubs in the early hours of the morning.

The fire quickly took hold in the early hours of September 5 as the stairwell acted like a chimney.

Residents had to jump for their lives from windows or climb down drainpipes to escape.

Wilson and Kyne were trapped at the top of the building.

Kyne lived in the flat with fellow jockey Ian Brennan. Wilson was Brennan’s girlfriend and had been staying over.

Father-of-one Brown did not give evidence in his trial.

Throughout the proceedings, he sat in the dock flanked by a security guard, occasionally making notes on an A4 pad.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies adjourned sentence for the completion of a pre-sentence report, telling Brown: “So I can have full information about the danger you pose.”

She thanked the jury and the victim’s relatives, telling the families of the two jockeys: “You have attended every day, my thanks to you for the dignity you have shown.”

Following today’s verdict, the two families issued a joint statement.

It said: “Peter Brown has robbed us of two wonderfully young people who had so much to live for.

“When Jan and Jamie died, a part of each one of us died with them. He has left us all shattered and our lives will never be the same again.

“We are pleased that he has now been held accountable for the devastating events of last September. However, no punishment will ever bring Jan and Jamie back.

“They have both been denied a great future and lifestyle in a sport they loved so much and had triumphed in.

"Brown may have taken away Jan and Jamie but he cannot take away our memories.”

Kyne’s parents issued a further statement after the conclusion of the day .

Madaline Cosgrove-Kyne and Gerry Kyne said Brown had “robbed us all of a fantastic son, brother, grandson and nephew who had so much to live for”.

Mrs Cosgrove-Kyne added: “When Jamie died, a part of each one of us died with him. Brown has left us all shattered and our lives will never be the same again.”

“September 5 2009 was, and always will be, the worst day of my life. You never think that your child will be taken away from you.

“It is like someone has ripped my heart out, stamped all over it and then handed it back to me hardly beating.”

Wilson’s mother Margaret Wilson said: “She was a dream come true for us, and a gift which we were privileged to enjoy for 19 years.

“We are so very proud of Jan and all her achievements all through her short but full life, and thank all those who helped her get there and made her into the girl we miss so much.

“Any punishment won’t be enough for the loss and suffering of Jamie, Jan and all their family and friends. At least he can’t take away our memories.”

Speaking after the case, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Alan Carey said:

“Peter Brown has shown little or no remorse, let alone an admission of his guilt, throughout the investigation and now the trial. It is perhaps telling that he did not want to be confronted with questions as to what he did and why.”