By Michael Fleet
THE cause of the country house fire in which the Tory MP Michael Colvin and his wife Nichola died may never be fully known, an inquest was told yesterday.
A discarded match or an overturned candle were the most likely reasons why Tangley House, near Winchester, Hampshire, was destroyed in February but despite months of work by investigators there could be no certainty, Grahame Short, the coroner for Mid Hampshire, was told.
He recorded an open verdict after hearing that the couple were believed to have been overcome by smoke in their beds before the fire burnt the entire interior of the house.
He recorded an open verdict after hearing that the couple were believed to have been overcome by smoke in their beds before the fire burnt the entire interior of the house.
There were no smoke alarms which could have saved them, Mr Short said, and an audible warning inside the house that the burglar alarm had been tampered with by the heat went unanswered because, it is believed, they were already dead.
The order in which the alarm sensors were deactivated showed that the fire probably began in a living room.
The order in which the alarm sensors were deactivated showed that the fire probably began in a living room.
It then escaped through an open door and reached a first floor dressing room where Mr Colvin, 67, slept before entering the neighbouring master bedroom, where his wife, 62, was sleeping so that her husband did not disturb her when he went to bed later.
Ronald Bell, a forensic scientist, said the fire was probably caused by a match being thrown into a metal waste paper basket after lighting a log fire or a candle.
It is thought that the fire smouldered for up to two hours before the alarm was raised by Nicola Woolnough, the housekeeper.
Ronald Bell, a forensic scientist, said the fire was probably caused by a match being thrown into a metal waste paper basket after lighting a log fire or a candle.
It is thought that the fire smouldered for up to two hours before the alarm was raised by Nicola Woolnough, the housekeeper.
Mrs Woolnough said her husband went into the house but there was thick smoke coming from the doorway. "He could not get in very far because it was so hot." The couple's children, Jamie Cayzer-Colvin, Arabella Gaggero and Amanda Ponsonby, joined other family members at the inquest in Winchester.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1346868/Cause-of-fire-that-killed-MP-still-a-mystery.html
http://sexoffendersinpositionsofpower.blogspot.com/2011/12/ahh-got-deleted-i-see-nevermind-full.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1346868/Cause-of-fire-that-killed-MP-still-a-mystery.html
http://sexoffendersinpositionsofpower.blogspot.com/2011/12/ahh-got-deleted-i-see-nevermind-full.html
