Drug dealer jailed for arson plot which killed elderly couple

A drug dealer who plotted an arson attack which killed two pensioners said he was “always laughing” as he was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years.

Sheila Jackson, 83, and her partner, Eric Greener, 77, suffered fatal injuries in the blaze last July at their terraced house on South John Street, St Helens, Merseyside.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard Kevin Weetman, 34, had planned the attack on Ms Jackson’s son George Jackson, 48, after he refused to sell drugs for him.

As he was sent down after sentence on Thursday a family member in the public gallery shouted: “You’re not laughing now, Weetman.”

The defendant replied: “I’m always laughing.”

Weetman, of Aigburth, Liverpool, and co-accused Kylie Maynard, 37, and Lee Owens, 46, were cleared of murdering the couple on Tuesday following a five-week trial.

Weetman and Maynard, who pleaded guilty to conspiring together to supply cocaine, were convicted of manslaughter, a charge Owens had already admitted.

Sentencing them on Thursday, Mr Justice Jay said: “This is an appalling case involving the untimely deaths of two innocent elderly people.”

Weetman, who had smiled in the dock as verdicts were returned, was described by the judge as “a man with an entirely warped moral code”.

His criminal record dated back to a conviction for battery when he was 12 and included leaving a police officer with brain damage after he mowed him down on his scooter when he was 15 and under an anti-social behaviour order.

Mr Justice Jay said a letter sent to him by Weetman ahead of the sentence was “too late”.

He said: “He can’t come along now having lied to the jury in a systematic fashion and denied any involvement when it was, frankly, as plain as a pikestaff that he masterminded all of this.

“I’m grateful for the letter but it is too late.”

Peter Wright KC, defending Weetman, said has motivation for the attack was more likely to be the “instilling of terror” than a murderous intent.

Maynard, of Everton, Liverpool, was jailed for 23 years and Owens, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 13 years and six months.

After the sentencing, the couple’s family said their deaths were the result of an “unforgivable, unprovoked, premeditated attack”.

They said: “Sheila and Eric were taken from us in the most violent and cruel way, and no amount of justice can ever replace the beautiful lives that were lost or heal the harm done to our family.”

In a statement read to the court by Alex Langhorn, prosecuting, Ms Jackson’s daughter Sharon Jackson said: “Mum and Eric were our world. They were our life.

“You took their precious lives away from them. You did that.

“You didn’t care who was in that house.”

The trial heard Owens and another man, Paul Smith, 40, who has since died, travelled from Liverpool to St Helens to start the fire just after 12.30am on July 15 last year.

Mr Jackson, the intended target, was out at the time and returned to find his mother being carried from the burning house by firefighters.

Mr Greener was also rescued from the blaze, but both died in hospital from burns and smoke inhalation.

Owens and Smith were allegedly “put up” to carry out the attack by Weetman, with Maynard’s help, after they tried to trick Mr Jackson into working as a drug dealer.

The jury was told Mr Jackson had been given half an ounce of cocaine as a gift by Weetman after he helped Maynard when her drugs were robbed.

But, after Mr Jackson twice declined to work for Weetman the drug dealer started to ask for his “dough” and resolved to take action to “prevent a loss of face”, the prosecution alleged.

Weetman told the jury: “I weren’t committing murders. I’m a drug dealer.”

The court heard he played a “leading role” in a drugs line which made about £8,000 a week, while Maynard was his “trusted lieutenant”.

Merseyside Police said there was an ongoing investigation into the death of Smith, who the court heard died from a “massive drugs overdose” seven days after the arson.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath said: “Weetman has been proven to have orchestrated the fatal attack on the home of Eric and Sheila, and whether he knew who was inside or not, to set a house on fire puts the lives of anyone in the vicinity at risk.

“It was a calculated attempt to cause serious harm, and the evidence demonstrated that Weetman simply did not care whose life he endangered.

“In their willingness to assist Weetman in this enterprise, Maynard and Owens carry their own weight of responsibility with them to jail.”