THE owner of a block of flats where two young jockeys died in an arson attack has admitted breaching fire regulations.

The landlord, Alan Foster was expected to stand trial later this year following the blaze in September 2009 which killed Jamie Kyne, 18 and Jan Wilson, 19 at Buckrose Court, in Norton, Malton, North Yorkshire.

However today (Monday, April 22) at Leeds Crown Court Foster pleaded guilty to four out of nine charges brought against him by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

The 65-year-old of Buckrose Court, Norton admitted two charges relating to Flats 1-9 at The Tannery, Buckrose Court, where the blaze happened.

The first related to failing to take reasonable fire precautions between March 5, 2009 and September 6, 2009.

Secondly he admitted failing to make a sufficient risk assessment to identify fire precautions at the premises between the same dates.

Foster denied three further charges relating to the flats, which involved failing to ensure people could be evacuated quickly and safely in an emergency, failing to establish the appropriate procedure to follow in an emergency, and failing to ensure a suitable system of maintenance for the alarm systems, emergency lighting system and the automatic smoke ventilator system.

He also pleaded guilty to two charges relating to a neighbouring block of flats at 1-12 Buckrose House, in Commercial Street, on August 18, 2011 that he failed to take reasonable fire precautions at those premises and failed to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.

He denied two earlier similar charges relating to those premises between September 4, 2009 and November 13, 2009.

Mr Mehta told the court the remaining counts relating to Buckrose House involved two separate occasions when fire officers attended, shortly after the fire and on a subsequent date in 2011.

Sentence was adjourned and Foster was bailed after his counsel Philip Standfast said he wanted to prepare a mitigation bundle for the court.

Jamie Kyne from Co Galway and Jan Wilson from Forfar Scotland, were trapped on the top floor when labourer Peter Brown started a blaze after being refused entry to a party in another flat.

Brown was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and ordered to serve a minimum of seven and a half years under an indeterminate sentence for public protection.