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Smoker set on fire with own cigarette
A woman desperately tried to save her partner after he set himself on fire when he fell asleep with a cigarette, an inquest has heard.
John Noble had been drinking heavily when he fell asleep on the sofa at his home in Cecil Drive in Corby.
His long-term partner Fay Gallacher found him engulfed in flames and screaming for help as the fire took over his body.
Mr Noble's family wept as the details were relived at Kettering Magistrates' Court yesterday.
In a statement read out at the inquest, Ms Gallacher said: "When I walked back into the living room, I could hardly see anything.
"John was in flames on the sofa. He was shouting, 'Fay, help me' and 'get some water'.
"I started to scream and got four basins of water.
"His clothes were sticking to him and he was screaming as I tried to get them off."
Despite her efforts, Mr Noble, 67, died from burns and inhalation of hot gases on August 13 last year.
The inquest also heard that Mr Noble, a father-of-four, had taken the batteries out of a smoke detector in the living room.
Ms Gallacher said the couple would often go on drinking sessions that
could last for days and described their relationship as "love-hate".
She said they would both chain-smoke when they drank and that Mr Noble would drink vodka and Irn-Bru.
She said on the day Mr Noble died, on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the most drunk, they were about nine.
Fire officer Neil Imrie told the coroner: "The evidence is consistent with smoking materials smouldering then flaming which spread to his trousers and then his shirt.
"The most likely cause was the careless use and disposal of smoking materials."
He said there were other small burns on both sofas from previous incidents.
Coroner Anne Pember recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: "Both Mr Noble and his partner had been drinking excessively and were extremely intoxicated.
"I imagine he was smoking and fell asleep or became unconscious and the cigarette caused a fire.
"What's extremely sad is that there was a smoke alarm with no battery fitted, which might have alerted him or his partner to the fire."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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