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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Man guilty of girl's fire murder | Man guilty of girl's fire murder |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A man who killed a three-year-old girl by setting fire to her family home in Liverpool in a revenge attack has been convicted of murder. | A man who killed a three-year-old girl by setting fire to her family home in Liverpool in a revenge attack has been convicted of murder. |
| Francesca Bimpson was unable to escape the flames and suffered massive burns, Liverpool Crown Court was told. | Francesca Bimpson was unable to escape the flames and suffered massive burns, Liverpool Crown Court was told. |
| Graham Heaps, 44, started the fire because he was bitter at the break-up of his relationship with her aunt. | Graham Heaps, 44, started the fire because he was bitter at the break-up of his relationship with her aunt. |
| Heaps, of Woodside Terrace, Crumlin, south Wales, had denied murder. He will be sentenced on Tuesday. | Heaps, of Woodside Terrace, Crumlin, south Wales, had denied murder. He will be sentenced on Tuesday. |
| No emotion | No emotion |
| Heaps poured petrol though the letterbox of the house in the Everton area of the city just before Christmas 2008. | |
| Francesca was unable to escape the ensuing fire and suffered 85% burns. She died three weeks later in hospital. | Francesca was unable to escape the ensuing fire and suffered 85% burns. She died three weeks later in hospital. |
| The jury of seven men and five women took two-and-a-half hours to reach their unanimous guilty verdict. | The jury of seven men and five women took two-and-a-half hours to reach their unanimous guilty verdict. |
| The verdict was greeted by cheers and and, as Heaps was sent down, Francesca's mother, Eleanor Skelhorne, became distraught. | The verdict was greeted by cheers and and, as Heaps was sent down, Francesca's mother, Eleanor Skelhorne, became distraught. |
| She shouted at him: "That's wiped the smile off your face, hasn't it?" | She shouted at him: "That's wiped the smile off your face, hasn't it?" |
| Francesca, her mother and father, Kieron Bimpson, both 37, and their three other children, Anne-Marie, then 17 months, Christina, eight, and 14-year-old Kieron, had all been asleep during the attack. | |
| He intended to kill one or another member of the household or cause them serious injury Brian Cummings QC, prosecuting | |
| Mr Bimpson leapt out of the house first so he could catch the children when they jumped. | |
| But Christina, who shared a bedroom with her sister, was not strong enough to lift Francesca to the window, the court heard. | |
| Brian Cummings QC, prosecuting, said fire crews arrived at the house as Ms Skelhorne was screaming from the street: "Get my baby out. My baby is inside." | |
| Firefighters found her lying on her bed, limp and breathing only faintly. | |
| "It was always likely that she would die and she did so three weeks later," said Mr Cummings. | |
| The jury was told that Heaps harboured ill feelings towards the family because of the break-up of his relationship. | |
| Mr Cummings told them: "He intended to kill one or another member of the household or cause them serious injury." |