A heartbreaking video of a beautiful two-year-old boy killed in a gas blast caused by a 'neighbour from hell' has been shared on social media.
Little George Hinds was tragically killed when Darren Greenham, 45, used an angle grinder to cut a gas pipe which he intended to sell for scrap metal in the early hours of May 16 last year. The action caused a huge explosion, directly killing George , whose family lived in the neighbouring property.
Police have shared the video, which shows George blowing a kiss and saying "I love you," on Twitter today (October 5) as Greenham was sentenced to 15 years custody for his crime. They state: This is George Arthur Hinds. George was only two years and 10 months old when he tragically died in a gas explosion at his family home in Heysham, in May 2021.
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They add, in a thread of pictures depicting the scene and showing little George in a series of adorable snaps: "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.
"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."
On the night of the tragic incident, on Mallowdale Avenue, Heysham, Greenham, while high on drink and drugs, took an angle grinder to copper pipes around the house unaware that the gas supply had not been switched off. Oblivious to what experts said would have been an obvious smell and sound of gas, he continued cutting even after causing the leak which led to the explosion. It is not known what caused the ignition, but the quantity of gas was so great that only a light switch would have been needed.
George's father, Stephen Hinds, told Preston Crown Court at an earlier hearing, that Greenham made the lives of his neighbours a "misery". Greenham, who was dependent on alcohol and drugs, would also play loud music until the early hours and hurl insults at George.
Speaking to the court , Mr Hinds said: "By Darren Greenham cutting a gas pipe to make a few quid I have lost my son, my absolute world.” He added: "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 Greenham made her feel "unsafe" in her own home, referring to him as a "neighbour from hell" who would make threats of violence towards her and her family. 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.” The court heard that the explosion, which took place at 2.36am, destroyed the Lancashire County Council-owned property that Greenham lived in.
Two neighbouring terraced houses were also destroyed in the explosion while a total of 55 properties in the area were damaged. At an earlier hearing, Timothy Cray KC, prosecuting, said that at the time of the explosion, the council was considering taking eviction proceedings against Greenham after several complaints regarding his behaviour.
He added: "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.”
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report after the explosion revealed that wooden floorboards had been removed from the first floor landing of the house and gas pipes had been deliberately cut. It is believed that the blast would have happened around 20 to 40 minutes after they were cut and there would likely have been a strong smell of gas and an audible noise, according to the report.
Today Greenham was jailed for 15 years after admitting manslaughter, damaging a gas meter, and theft of gas.
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