A father from a village near Market Drayton made alterations to the garage of his home just weeks before his wife was found dead inside in a fire, a court has heard.

The garage door of the house where mother-of-four Anita Stead, 39, died in May 2002 was nailed shut and she died trapped in a “secret place” inside, Stafford Crown Court heard. 

Alan Stead, 41, of Meynellfield, Loggerheads, denies murdering his wife and claimed the alterations to the garage were done four-and-a-half to five years before the fire in which his wife died. 

Jurors in Stead’s trial at Stafford Crown Court heard yesterday that he waited almost 15 minutes after the fire at his home at Slindon Close, Waterhayes, Staffordshire, broke out before dialling 999 and “play acted” the role of someone in a panic. 

Mr Stephen Linehan QC, prosecuting, said the emergency services “never got any clear understanding of where Anita Stead was” but Stead “knew exactly where she was”.

“He was play acting, play acting the role of someone in a panic,” said Mr Linehan. 

“The only explanation for the defendant’s conduct at the scene is that he did not want them to find her until it was certain she was dead.”

Mr Linehan said Stead’s eyebrows and nasal hair were singed. 

“The temperature for that to happen is amazingly high, between 200 and 300ºC,” he said.

“If it happens in a flash you don’t actually get burned you get singed but you can’t physically approach temperatures of that level. 

“The fire developed so rapidly and so intensely that the only conclusion you can reach is it was started by an accelerant.” 

Mr Linehan said it was “almost certain” methanol was used to start and ensure the fire was massive. 

Mr Linehan said Stead claimed the fire was a “tragic accident” and he had nothing to do with starting it. 

The jury heard there had been two investigations into the fire. 

Mr Linehan said a second investigation showed that Anita’s death was not an accident.

The trial continues.

By Deborah Collins