MURDER TRIAL: jury retires to consider verdict.

The jury has been sent out to consider their verdict in the case of three men accused of murdering a mum, her baby daughter and her friend in a flat fire in Langley Mill.
The scene on North Street, Langley Mill, Derbyshire after the fire.  Tom Maddick / Rossparry.co.ukThe scene on North Street, Langley Mill, Derbyshire after the fire.  Tom Maddick / Rossparry.co.uk
The scene on North Street, Langley Mill, Derbyshire after the fire. Tom Maddick / Rossparry.co.uk

Anthony Eyre, his brother, Simon, and father Peter, 44, are accused of murdering Amy Smith, 17, her six-month-old daughter Ruby-Grace Gaunt, and friend Edward Green, also 17, from Belper.

They all died in the blaze at the flat in North Street, Langley Mill, where Amy lived with her partner, Shaun Gaunt, the trial at Nottingham Crown Court has heard.

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The blaze happened at around 4am on Sunday, June 21, last year.

Anthony Eyre pleaded guilty to manslaughter - a direct alternative to the allegations of murder he denies - jurors were reminded.

Mrs Justice Carr concluded her summing up of the case, which she began on Friday, by reminding the jury that they must be ‘sure of the necessary ingredients of the offence if you are to convict.’

She said: “The prosecution says all three men intended to kill.

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“Peter denies being aware of any plan. It was pure chance that he ended up on North Street that night.

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“Anthony has accepted his presence but not his murderous intention”

She said Simon did not give evidence as he has an alibi.

Prosecutors claim the blaze was started “deliberately” with petrol at the door to the building -which was the only means of exit and entry to the flat on the second and third floor.