'Neighbour from hell' who caused gas explosion which killed boy jailed

2022-10-05

‘Neighbour from hell’, 45, who caused gas explosion which killed two-year-old boy after cutting a gas pipe to sell for scrap metal is jailed for 15 years

Darren Greenham previously admitted killing two-year-old George Hinds
He caused a gas explosion in Lancashire which also damaged 55 properties
The 45-year-old ‘selfish and disruptive neighbour’ has been jailed for 15 years

A ‘neighbour from hell’ who caused an enormous gas explosion which killed a ‘beautiful’ two-year-old boy and flattened two homes after cutting a gas pipe to sell for scrap metal has been jailed for 15 years.

Darren Greenham, 45, used an angle grinder to cut the pipe in the early hours of May 16 last year, causing the huge explosion which killed George Hinds in Heysham, Lancashire, and damaged 55 properties in the area.

Four others, including his heartbroken parents, Vicky Studholme and Stephen Hinds, were injured after the fireball ripped through their semi-detached home, and a third home was also seriously damaged.

Greenham pleaded guilty to the charges of manslaughter, damaging a gas meter and theft of gas in August – before being jailed today.

Sentencing him for manslaughter at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday, Recorder of Preston Judge Robert Altham said: ‘Mr Greenham was a selfish and disruptive neighbour.

‘He lived his life without regard for the comfort of those who were unfortunate enough to live adjacent to him.’

George’s father clutched a Paw Patrol toy as he watched the sentencing from the public gallery with George’s mother and a number of other neighbours.

A ‘neighbour from hell’ caused an enormous gas explosion which killed a ‘beautiful’ two-year-old boy, George Hinds (pictured)

Darren Greenham, 45, has been jailed for 15 years after pleaded guilty to the charges of manslaughter, damaging a gas meter and theft of gas in August

The judge praised George’s parents, who have been living in a caravan since the explosion, for their dignity and said he shared their ‘incomprehension’ that anyone could put the lives of so many at risk for the sake of stealing ‘a few lengths of copper piping’.

Following sentencing today, Lancashire Police said: ‘Darren is a truly selfish and wicked man whose main motivation in the build-up to the fatal explosion was financial greed. His reckless actions caused the death of a completely innocent toddler, destruction to several homes and £100,000’s worth of damage.

‘No sentence will ever make up for the loss of George’s life or reflect the pain and misery Darren has caused.

‘No-one should put their child to bed at night, in a place of safety, and not be able to see them alive again. Our thoughts are with George and his family.’

Greenham, who showed no emotion in the dock, was given concurrent sentences of one month for the charges of damaging the meter and theft of gas.

Lancashire Police said: ‘Darren is a truly selfish and wicked man whose main motivation in the build-up to the fatal explosion was financial greed’

A judge said ‘Mr Greenham was a selfish and disruptive neighbour’ as he sentenced him for manslaughter

George’s father Stephen Hinds told the hearing at Preston Crown Court yesterday: ‘By Darren Greenham cutting a gas pipe to make a few quid I have lost my son, my absolute world.’

He said Greenham, who was dependent on alcohol and drugs, made the lives of his neighbours a ‘misery’ and would play music until the early hours and insult George.

Mr Hinds, who wore a blue Paw Patrol tie and took a Paw Patrol toy into the witness box with him, said: ‘It makes my blood boil now, I always did the right thing and reported it to the council and the police, nothing was ever done.’

In a statement, George’s mother Vicki Studholme said she felt ‘unsafe’ in her home because of Greenham, a ‘neighbour from hell’ who she said made threats of violence towards her, her husband and their son.

She said: ‘I do feel that although we reported this countless times we have been let down by the council and the police, and the death of my beautiful baby boy could have been avoided.’

She added: ‘After the explosion, being trapped in the rubble was the most scared I had ever been in my life.

‘This was until I arrived at the hospital to be told that George had died.

‘Never, ever have I felt so scared as in that moment of my life.’

George’s father clutched a Paw Patrol toy as he watched the sentencing from the public gallery with George’s mother and a number of other neighbours

The court heard that the explosion at 2.36am destroyed the Lancashire County Council-owned property Greenham lived in and severely damaged the two neighbouring terraced houses. A total of 55 properties in the area were damaged.

Shocked locals described hearing a sound ‘like a bomb going off’ at the time of the huge explosion, which caused debris to cover nearby streets and fields.

Timothy Cray KC, prosecuting, said that at the time of the explosion the council was considering taking eviction proceedings after a number of complaints about Greenham’s behaviour.

He said: ‘He had been removing every bit of pipework he could for weeks before, seemingly because he knew he was going and he wanted to make what he could from selling it as scrap.’

The court heard the gas meter in the property had been altered so Greenham could receive gas without paying for it.

A report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the explosion found wooden floorboards had been removed from the first floor landing of the house and gas pipes had been cut deliberately.

Darren Greenham (pictured), 45, used an angle grinder to cut the pipe in the early hours of May 16 last year, causing the huge explosion which killed George Hinds in Lancashire

The blast was likely to have happened 20 to 40 minutes after they were cut and there would have been a strong smell of gas and an audible noise before that, the report said.

Peter Glenser KC, defending, said Greenham was sober for the first time in ‘many, many years’ since being in custody awaiting sentence.

He said: ‘With that sobriety has come a clarity and an insight that he didn’t have through all his years of drink and drugs, and that clarity and insight has enabled him to see for the first time what terrible harm he has caused.’

Greenham, who suffered a serious head injury and lost most of the use of his right hand in the blast, pleaded guilty in August to manslaughter, damaging a gas meter and theft of gas.

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