Two-year-old dies after 'neighbor from hell' cuts gas pipe to sell for scrap and causes massive explosion
HEYSHAM, LANCASHIRE: Darren Greenham, 45, who cut a gas pipe to sell for scrap, caused a massive gas explosion that took the life of a two-year-old boy. Now, a court has heard that the accused was a "neighbor from hell", reports the Daily Mail.
Last year, in the early hours of May 16, Greenham used an angle grinder to cut the pipe. The resultant explosion killed two-year-old George Hinds and damaged a total of 55 properties in the surrounding area on Mallowdole Avenue. George's parents, Vicky Studholme and Stephen Hinds and two others suffered injuries due to the blast's impact, with severe damage to the properties.
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Subsequently, in August, Greenham pleaded guilty to multiple charges including manslaughter, damaging a gas meter, and theft of gas. According to reports, the two-year-old victim's bereaved father told the sentencing hearing at Preston Crown Court, "By Darren Greenham cutting a gas pipe to make a few quid I have lost my son, my absolute world." As per the court hearing, the explosion is said to have occurred at 2.36 am.
Hinds also revealed that Greenham, a frequent user of drugs and alcohol, was a horrible neighbor, causing a nuisance to everyone around. He would frequently play music until the early hours and was also known to insult the little toddler. The heartbroken father took to the witness box to express his grief, saying, "It makes my blood boil now, I always did the right thing and reported it to the council and the police, nothing was ever done."
According to the outlet, locals have described the impact to be "like a bomb going off" and dirt and debris covered the surroundings. Prosecutor Timothy Cray KC added that at the time of the explosion, the council had been considering Greenham's eviction following several complaints against him. The accused, who lived in a Lancashire County Council-owned property, had reportedly been "removing every bit of pipework he could for weeks before, seemingly because he knew he was going and he wanted to make what he could from selling it as scrap," said the prosecutor.
Trying to save some money, Greenham had even altered the gas meter so that he could receive gas without actually paying for it, the court heard. Following the incident, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspected the property and found that the 45-year-old had removed wooden floorboards from the first-floor landing of the house and cut off the gas pipes. The explosion had likely occurred within half an hour of the pipes being cut.
Greenham's lawyer Peter Glenser KC claimed that he was now sober and with that "sobriety has come a clarity and an insight that he didn't have through all his years of drink and drugs, and that clarity and insight has enabled him to see for the first time what terrible harm he has caused." The accused, who also suffered a serious head injury and lost most of the use of his right hand in the blast, will be sentenced on Wednesday, October 5.