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Court watches CCTV of murder accused

Mon, 02 Aug 2010

A court has been shown CCTV of the man accused of starting the Demesne Road fire walking around the area at the time of the blaze.

35 year old Simon Paul Leece of Fairfield Terrace denies 8 charges - 1 of murder and 7 arson offences, relating to 4 fires started in the area.

In the opening statement for the prosecution, the court was shown a compilation of footage from the early hours of Sunday 22nd March last year.

A camera in the stairway of his home shows him leaving shortly before the fires on Peveril Street and Clark Street were started.

Other cameras in the area follow him past Fairfield School onto Peveril Street and then returning towards his home, before looping back onto Tynwald Street.

He's then seen looking at the flashing blue lights of a fire engine in the refletion of a shop window on Tynwald Street.

Surveillance footage shows him return to his home and head out again just before 3.45 in the morning and head towards Bucks Road before ducking out of site as an unmarked police car drives past.

He is then seen to head towards Demesne Road.

The fire which killed 61 year old Terry Losh was reported to the fire service at 4.06.

The prosecution also stated that a footprint matching a pair of Leece's shoes was found at the house on Peveril Street.

The trial will continue tomorrow morning, when the jury of 7 women and 5 men will be taken for a site visit

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