Ex-Pupils Claim £2m School Blaze Was Started By BBQ

Louis Hall-Simper

Two former pupils, who burned down a building at their former primary school in a £2m blaze, told police it was accidentally started by their disposable BBQ, a trial heard.

Louis Hall-Simper, 23, and Harry Shearman, 22, had been drinking that night and claimed they were using the BBQ to keep warm and had made efforts to extinguish it.

However, the prosecution say there was no evidence of a BBQ in the debris and even if the ex-pupils’ account is true they were at least reckless in starting the fire.

The Woodies Building at Hinchley Wood Primary School, Esher, Surrey was completely destroyed in the early hours of September 26, 2021.

Both Hall-Simper and Shearman have pleaded not guilty to one count of arson.

Prosecutor Tim Sleigh told the Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court jury: “On that night the wooden building burned down, causing over two million pounds worth of damage.

“These two defendants were past pupils of the school some years earlier.

“They had met that night, drank some alcohol and decided to break into their old school at 11.00pm and having entered the grounds they sat in a courtyard.

“That area was partly covered by wooden struts and having sat there for a while they broke into the school building and CCTV evidence shows them looking around.

“Meanwhile, a fire developed outside the building while the defendants were inside and when they realised this they fled.

“The fire brigade extinguished the fire, but were not able to save the building and it was destroyed,” explained Mr Sleigh. 

Harry Shearman

“You will have to decide if their behaviour was reckless or deliberate,” he told the jurors.

“No disposable BBQ was found, but one would not necessarily be discovered. 

“Experts will tell you the fire could have burned at 430 degrees centigrade.”

When initially questioned by police neither defendant mentioned anything about a BBQ.

“Shearman initially said they had sat in the area, but he did not know how the fire started and then he said in his second interview they had lit a disposable BBQ to stay warm.

“He said they left it when they decided to enter the school , but he had urinated and poured water onto it.

“In his second interview Hall-Simper gave a similar account about the BBQ and that they had left it pretty much extinguished.

“Did these defendants see a risk at leaving that BBQ there and was it unreasonable to take that risk?” asked Mr Sleigh. 

“You will be invited to consider by the prosecution that these two defendants committed arson on that day.”

Trial continues…………..