A MAN accused of killing two jockeys when he allegedly set fire to a block of flats sent "creepy" text messages to a girl, a jury was told today.

Peter Brown was accused of sending the messages to Jordan Lambert several months before the fatal fire claimed the lives of apprentice jockeys Jamie Kyne, 18, and Jan Wilson, 19.

Miss Lambert's boyfriend, Joseph Thorpe, recalled the messages being sent to her mobile phone in May last year.

Mr Thorpe said they seemed "creepy" and he remembered "cringing" when he read them.

He added: "They just seemed creepy almost, and poetical stuff about her eyes."

Prosecutors said a drunken Brown, 37, set fire to the complex in Norton, North Yorkshire, last September as an act of revenge after he was refused entry to a party.

It is alleged that Brown lit a fire in the communal entrance to the block, in the early hours of September 6 last year.

The court heard that the blaze raged through the building, forcing many of the occupants to jump for their lives.

The trial continues.