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Blaze victim had disconnected smoke alarm
A man who was engulfed by flames when he fell asleep with a cigarette had disconnected his own smoke alarm, an inquest heard today.
John Noble, 67, had taken the batteries out of an alarm at the bungalow he shared with partner Fay Gallacher in Cecil Drive, Corby, Northamptonshire.
An inquest into his death today heard that Ms Gallacher found Mr Noble engulfed in flames in the lounge, where he had fallen asleep after a heavy drinking session.
She said she desperately tried to douse the flames as her partner screamed for help on August 13 last year.
The inquest, at Kettering Magistrates Court, heard the couple, who had been together for about 15 years, had a "love hate" relationship.
Ms Gallacher said they would drink occasionally but when they did they would go "on a bender", drinking solidly for several days.
She said both were heavy smokers and would chain smoke during a "bender", but told the inquest Mr Noble had removed the batteries from the smoke detector in the lounge of their bungalow to stop it going off.
She said the pair had been drinking for a few days before the fire last August, consuming bottles of vodka with Irn Bru.
The inquest heard police were called on August 12 and again in the early hours of August 13 to reports of a domestic incident, but Ms Gallacher said she could not remember calling them.
Pc Patricia Lutz went to the house at about 2.45am that morning .
She told the inquest when she arrived the pair were extremely drunk and making no sense, so after checking there was no complaint, she left just after 3am.
Less than an hour later, a fire had broken out, engulfing Mr Noble in flames.
Ms Gallacher, who said she could not remember calling the police, described walking into the lounge to find it filled with smoke.
Mr Noble's family wept as she said: "I could hardly see anything for smoke and then I realised John was in flames. He was screaming, 'Fay, Fay, help me'.
"His whole body was alight, even his clothes and his hair.
"It took me four basins of water to get the flames out."
She said Mr Noble asked her to pull off his clothes, which had melted to his body, but screamed as she tried to remove them.
He was taken to the burns unit at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, and died later that day.
A post mortem found he died of burns and inhalation of hot gases.
Fire officer Neil Imrie, from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the area of direct burning was confined to the area round Mr Noble's right leg.
He said: "The smoking materials initiated a smouldering and then flaming then the fire spread to Mr Noble's trousers and shirt, initially on the right side and then travelling along the sofa to the left side."
He said there was evidence of the "careless use and disposal" of smoking materials, including burn marks from a previous fire on another sofa, and said that was the most likely cause of the fire.
The inquest also heard the smoke alarm in the lounge had no batteries in it.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Northamptonshire Coroner Anne Pember said: "As we have heard from his partner both he and she had been drinking extensively and were both extremely intoxicated.
"Sadly I imagine that Mr Noble was smoking and fell asleep or became unconscious and then the cigarette caused a fire.
"What is extremely sad is that there was a smoke alarm there, no battery fitted, which might have alerted he or his partner to the smoke."
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Weather for Kettering
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
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