22/01/2008

Fatal Hotel Blaze Was Murder

A fire at a hotel in Cornwall which killed three people last summer is being treated as murder.

The blaze at Penthallow Hotel in Newquay on 18 August claimed the lives of Joan Harper, 80, Peter Hughes, 43, and his mother Monica, 86.

Mr Hughes, from Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire, was forced to jump from the third floor of the hotel after trying to save his mother. It is believed he died from smoke inhalation and toxic gas, not from the fall.

Detectives said that painstaking inquiries by fire service investigators and independent experts have established that the fire was started deliberately.

Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Boarland said that someone may be harbouring the culprit or culprits.

He said: "Somebody else may have knowledge of this even if they were not involved.

"We need them to come forward."




Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

25 January 2008
Cornwall Hotel Fire Suspect Released
A 21-year-old man arrested this week on suspicion of the murder of three people in a hotel blaze in Cornwall has been released on bail. Two men, aged 44 and 21, were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the fire at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay on August 18 last year. The older man remains in custody.
23 August 2007
Search Continues At Hotel Fire Site
More human remains are reported to have been found at the site of a hotel fire in Newquay in Cornwall. Following the fire at the Penhallow Hotel on Tuesday, two people are still unaccounted for. One man was killed in the blaze.
08 May 2009
Heroic Tyne Firemen Honoured
Two Tyne and Wear firefighters are to be recognised for their bravery at a special ceremony today. Andrew Nelson and Allan Richardson will be presented with the Chief Fire Officer's Commendations for brave and meritorious conduct after saving a man's life. The men took part in a dramatic rescue in the early hours of 4 February.
31 August 2006
Firefighters launch four-day strike
More than 1,000 firefighters across Merseyside have begun a four-day strike in protest over planned job cuts. Another four-day stoppage is scheduled to begin two hours after the first one ends.
23 January 2008
Two Arrested Over Cornwall Hotel Fire Deaths
Police investigating a fatal hotel blaze in Cornwall in which three people died have arrested two men. The men, aged 44 and 21, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and have been taken to a police station in Cornwall for questioning. The fire broke out at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay on August 18 last year.