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| Murder inquiry after hotel arson | Murder inquiry after hotel arson |
| (21 minutes later) | |
| The deaths of three people in a fire at a Cornish hotel are being treated as murder after police confirmed they were investigating an arson attack. | The deaths of three people in a fire at a Cornish hotel are being treated as murder after police confirmed they were investigating an arson attack. |
| More than 80 people escaped from the Penhallow Hotel blaze in Newquay on 18 August last year. | More than 80 people escaped from the Penhallow Hotel blaze in Newquay on 18 August last year. |
| Peter Hughes, 43, of Cheslyn Hay, Staffs was killed as he tried to rescue his mother Monica, 86. Joan Harper, 80, from Stoke on Trent, was also killed. | Peter Hughes, 43, of Cheslyn Hay, Staffs was killed as he tried to rescue his mother Monica, 86. Joan Harper, 80, from Stoke on Trent, was also killed. |
| Inquests have been opened and adjourned into all three deaths. | Inquests have been opened and adjourned into all three deaths. |
| Detectives said painstaking inquiries by fire service investigators and independent experts had established the fire was started deliberately. | Detectives said painstaking inquiries by fire service investigators and independent experts had established the fire was started deliberately. |
| Building demolished | |
| Det Ch Supt Chris Boarland said police believed someone could be harbouring the arsonist. | Det Ch Supt Chris Boarland said police believed someone could be harbouring the arsonist. |
| "Somebody else may have knowledge of this, even if they were not involved. We need them to come forward," he said. | "Somebody else may have knowledge of this, even if they were not involved. We need them to come forward," he said. |
| When the fire broke out in the early hours, the hotel was close to capacity with 86 guests, three members of staff and a coach driver in the building. | |
| Fire crews had to withdraw when parts of the structure gave way. | |
| It was later decided the four-storey hotel should be demolished. | |
| Safety inspection | |
| Following the fire, John McMillan, a director at Holdsworth Hotels which owns the Penhallow, said the company was "shocked" at what had happened but they were confident the evacuation of the hotel had gone "to plan". | |
| The hotel's fire escape had last passed a safety inspection in 2006 and the owners said smoke detectors and fire doors had been checked two weeks before the blaze. | |
| The Mayor of Newquay, Patrick Lambshead, called for 24-hour fire cover from stations in the town during the summer months after Cornwall's chief fire officer admitted he did not have enough officers to crew a second pump to tackle the fire. | |
| Cornwall County Council began a review of the overall fire service after the hotel blaze. |