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Four children ages three, four, six and eight died in a horror house fire after their parents fell asleep while smoking in bed, according to an investigation.
Riley John Holt, eight, Keegan Jonathan Unitt, six, Tilly Rose Unitt, four, and Olly Unitt, three, were killed when a fire broke out at their family home in Stafford, Staffordshire, in February of last year.
South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh was told that melted glass, consistent with an ashtray, was found on the springs of a mattress after the fire.
Natalie Unitt, 26, and her partner Chris Moulton, 30, were detained by police on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
But in August, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would take no further action.
Unitt told the investigation today that he suffered from PTSD and couldn’t remember what he did after the fire broke out.
Moulton, the father of three of the children, also testified in the investigation and said he believed the fire had started on a landing.
Today’s investigation found that the children died from ‘fumes from the fire caused by [an] cigarette without putting out ‘on the bedding in the parents’ bedroom.
Keegan, Tilly, Olly and Riley all died in the devastating fire in February of last year.
The Stafford audience was informed that social workers had previously warned parents about smoking indoors.
Both parents denied that the fire had started in the bedroom of the house.
Fire investigator Leigh Richards concluded that the fire “was caused by carelessness with cigarettes” in the bedroom.
Coroner Andrew Haigh said: “Ms. Unitt has been advised not to smoke on the property, but there is substantial evidence that they continue to do so.
“It is understandable that they have tried to downplay the importance of this given what has happened.
Mr. Moulton suggested that the fire may have been caused where the boiler is on the landing of the property. I do not accept it. I have listened to the expert evidence and Mr. Richards has clearly indicated why the furnace is not the cause of this fire.
Parents Natalie Unitt, 26, and partner Chris Moulton, 30, managed to escape the fire
“You have correctly explained the reasons for your decision as to the cause of the fire. It was that the fire started as a result of a cigarette on the bedding in the master bedroom.
‘Of significant note … within the hollow of the left frame (window) when looking from inside the living room, there was a discarded cigarette butt.
In my opinion, that had not been eliminated and had been left to burn itself. Inside the classroom there was evidence of various cigarettes covering the carpet against the baseboards.
The fire ripped through the family’s semi-detached property shortly after 2:40 a.m. on February 2 of last year.
Mr. Moulton jumped from the first floor window with his youngest son, then two. Unitt escaped through the front door, the coroner said.
Both parents, who are still together, said they could not remember the aftermath of the fire. But Moulton, who suffered severe burns and needed a skin graft, believed the fire started on the landing near a boiler.
The tragic deaths of the children caused a torrent of grief in the Stafford community.
Lee Richards, a fire officer with the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service, said there was no evidence that a power failure or gas supply failure triggered the fire.
Richards said the parents’ accounts “were incompatible with each other” and that according to his “interpretation of the scene, the fire started in their bedroom.”
He said: ‘In my opinion, the fire developed inside the bedroom. As the fire developed, the room went into full flashover, where everything within the room was engulfed in fire.
“Having the windows open helped vent the fire and allowed the fire to grow very large and spread out of the compartment.”
Richards said his investigations found a “significant number of carelessly discarded cigarettes” inside and outside the home.
Fire crews at the scene of fatal house fire dealing with the smoking house
He said ‘more than 100 cigarettes’ were found outside a garden gate and ‘discarded cigarette butts under the living room window, the bedroom window and within the undergrowth of the garden.’
Richards added: “Chris and Natalie’s actions remain the subject of speculation.”
All four children died from inhalation of smoke and vapors in the fire.
Staffordshire Police Detective Inspector Alan Lyford, who led the investigation, said at the inquiry that social workers had previously advised parents “not to smoke at the home address.”
He said he believed Moulton, who was the father of three of the children, moved a burning quilt from the bedroom to the landing in an attempt to put it out.
He said: ‘Having worked with Mr. Richards, I agree with him that we believe the fire started inside the bedroom. The hypothesis is that a duvet was moved out of the room and then caught further, causing Christopher to be unable to exit the stairs and have access to his children.
“It stopped Natalie from coming back upstairs and so she had to go downstairs.”
Unitt said she remembered smoking in bed and falling asleep before she noticed the fire.
When asked how he found out about the fire, he said: ‘I had a heavy chest.
It was on the landing. I still have nightmares about it now. ‘
She denied that the bedding had been set on fire or that the couple’s duvet had been moved to the landing.
He said he could not remember the aftermath of the fire due to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mr. Moulton said that he had gone to sleep after smoking in bed, but that the fire woke him up.
When the coroner asked him where the fire was, he said: “It was on the landing.”
He said he was unable to rescue his children because the “fire was too intense.”
The Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to press charges against the couple, according to the investigation.
Det Insp Lyford told the court: ‘In December last year, we presented you with an advisory dossier.
“This was considered by CPS and they considered various crimes and ultimately found that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Natalie or Christopher in relation to this matter.”
