Fire is not the only danger for British firemen. Avoiding the police is the tricky bit

'Treated like common criminals': Fire chief slams decision to charge colleagues after pair are cleared of manslaughter following warehouse blaze roof collapse.

Should firefighters just stand aside and watch buildings burn? That seems the only safe way to avoid prosecution by safety-mad British police

When they couldn't find the arsonist, the cops turned on the firemen instead! Only in Britain

Police have been accused of wasting £5million prosecuting senior firemen over the deaths of four colleagues in a warehouse blaze – while failing to catch the arsonists who set the building alight.

A jury yesterday threw out the case against Timothy Woodward and Adrian Ashley, who were accused of manslaughter through gross negligence in their handling of the fire in 2007. In the worst loss of life for the fire service in 35 years, part-time firemen Ashley Stephens, Darren Yates-Badley, John Averis and Ian Reid died trying to put out the fire.

But while police never found the criminals who started the fire in Atherstone-on-Stour, Warwickshire, £4.7million has been spent over five years trying to pin blame for the losses on the managers who let the firemen enter the building even though all employees had already been accounted for.

A third defendant, Paul Simmons, was acquitted on the direction of the judge earlier in the trial at Stafford Crown Court.

After the verdicts, critics said firemen may now hesitate before trying to save lives for fear they could be arrested. Andy Dark, of the Fire Brigades Union, said: ‘Firefighters are furious at the police and prosecutors.

We believe that the Crown’s case, which was essentially that firefighters should stand aside and watch buildings burn, must be challenged by the Secretary of State, if not the Prime Minister himself.’

The police officer in charge of the inquiry, Detective Superintendent Ken Lawrence, insisted the investigation was justified and said he hoped the fire service had learned lessons from the tragedy.

Station Manager Timothy Woodward, 51, and Watch Manager Adrian Ashley, 45, who acted as incident commanders, were charged with gross negligence manslaughter in February last year following a criminal inquiry which cost taxpayers £4.6 million.

But after hearing six weeks of evidence jurors decided Mr Woodward and Mr Ashley had not acted illegally during their command of the incident on the evening of November 2 2007.

Speaking outside the court, Warwickshire’s Chief Fire Officer condemned the decision to press criminal charges against three members of his brigade in the first place.

Graeme Smith claimed the defendants had been treated like 'common criminals' and is now calling for the Home Office and Ministry of Justice to investigate how and why the prosecution was allowed to proceed.

Mr Smith, who was present in court during much of the six-week trial, said: 'It is crystal clear that these cases should never have been brought to court in the first place. 'But today neither I nor any of my colleagues in the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service feel any sense of relief.

'Rather we feel a sense of sorrow and remembrance for the four brave firefighters who died at Atherstone-on-Stour in 2007.'

Both Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Chief Fire Officers Association have serious concerns about the case.

Mr Smith and both bodies will be writing to the Home Secretary and to the Justice Secretary to seek a formal investigation into the prosecution.

Mr Smith was also critical of 'undue aggression' shown towards the firefighters charged with manslaughter during their time in police custody. During two days in the custody of Warwickshire Police, Mr Simmons, Mr Ashley, and Mr Woodward had their belts and shoelaces taken away and were also held at a police station overnight between interviews.

Mr Smith said: 'I am seriously concerned - and the public should be seriously concerned - that today, up and down the country, fire officers will be asking themselves... why on earth would I ever want to be an incident commander and face an unjustified legal attack in the way these three men have?'

There were two independent reports into the blaze, one commissioned by the police and another commissioned by the Warwickshire Fire Service, which was seized by the police before Warwickshire Fire Service had a chance to consider it.

Mr Smith said the investigation had been handled poorly and had put firefighters’ safety behind the needs of the police. He said: 'The police investigation into this fire took a wrong turn very early on.

'The police treated decent fire officers like common criminals. The court heard they were locked up in the cells overnight and even had their shoelaces taken away from them.

'It has taken almost five years and five million pounds of public money to construct a flimsy case against these three men and when it was presented in court it simply fell apart.'

He added: 'Both of these reports contained safety critical information of vital importance to the safety of firefighters up and down the country. 'Neither of them was released to the fire service until May 2011 - an incredible three-and-a-half years after the fire.

'I am outraged that the secrecy surrounding these reports meant that firefighters remained at risk for so long.'

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) hit out at police and prosecutors after the two remaining firefighters were cleared.

The union said it was absurd that the arsonists who started the blaze had never faced trial, while those who struggled to put it out were 'relentlessly pursued' by police and the CPS.

FBU assistant general secretary Andy Dark said: 'This was the first time firefighters at an incident were accused of the manslaughter of their colleagues. 'This prosecution cast a shadow across the whole fire service and caused anger and concern. 'We are relieved at the not-guilty verdicts but firefighters are furious at the police and prosecutors.

'The criminals who started the fire are still free, but those who tried to put the fire out were arrested, charged and brought to trial.'

Original report




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