Manslaughter charges dropped against mother and brother of teenager over fatal house fire

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Manslaughter charges have been dropped against three people over the death of a teenager in a house fire, including her mother and brother.

Leah Casson, 18, died after the blaze at her home in Vicarage Street, North Shields, North Tyneside, on 16 January, 2023.

Her mother Danielle Johnson, 43, and brother Louis Casson, 19, had been due to go on trial on Monday, alongside a third defendant, Calvin Smith, accused of manslaughter and abstracting electricity in the run-up to the fire.

But prosecutor Richard Wright KC said he had received expert evidence last week saying the electricity meter may not have caused the fire, which had been the prosecution’s case.

He said they could not rule out other third party involvement as the cause.

Mr Wright told Newcastle Crown Court there was no realistic prospect of conviction on the charges of manslaughter, and those would be dropped.

The prosecution also offered no evidence on a charge of abstracting electricity from November 2022 to January 2023, when the fire happened.

Smith and Johnson pleaded guilty to abstracting electricity between August and November 2022.

Mr Wright said the prosecution would offer no evidence on any charges against Casson, given his age and the circumstances around the incident.

The judge, Mr Justice Cotter, handed Johnson a two-year conditional discharge.

The court heard that she pleaded guilty on the basis that she became aware the electricity had been bypassed in late November and continued to use it “for a short period of time”.

The judge said that, according to Johnson, Smith and Craig Watson, who died in prison after being charged in connection with the incident, had arranged for the electricity to be bypassed.

Mr Justice Cotter told Johnson: “You stated it should be reinstated, which it was, in your case.

“Clearly the background to this offence is a tragic one – the loss for you of your daughter.”

Smith was bailed until sentencing on 22 October.

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