AN apprentice jockey who narrowly survived a fire which killed two of his colleagues told a jury that one of the victims was calling for help before he leapt to safety.

Dean Pratt said he was standing beside Jan Wilson at a window of the blazing flat.

Moments later he said he was left with ‘‘no choice’’ but to dive head-first from a window to the ground below.

The fire claimed the lives of apprentice jockeys Jamie Kyne, 18, from Kiltrogue, Co Galway, Ireland, and Miss Wilson, 19, from Forfar, Scotland.

Mr Pratt told Leeds Crown Court he could not remember hitting the ground and suffered a laceration on his chin and a broken bone in his left hand.

It is alleged that father-ofone Peter Brown, 37, lit a fire in the communal entrance to the block of flats in Norton, near Malton, North Yorkshire.

Prosecutors said a drunken Brown set fire to the Buckrose Court complex as an act of revenge after he was refused entry to a party in September last year.

Mr Pratt told the court he had been staying on the sofa in a flat occupied by Mr Kyne, Ian Brennan and his girlfriend, Jan Wilson.

He said he was woken by Mr Brennan, who alerted him to the fire and told him to get out.

He was beaten back by the flames as he opened the front door and recalled Miss Wilson standing by a window.

When asked what was she doing, he said: ‘‘She was calling for help.”

Asked by prosecuting counsel Richard Mansell QC what was going through his mind, he said: “I just had to get out.

I was finding it hard to breathe. I had no choice, so I let myself fall out of the window.”

Mr Brown, of School Croft, Brotherton, North Yorkshire, denies two charges of murder, two alternative charges of manslaughter and one charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.

Award to honour fire victim

AN award has been launched to honour the memory of tragic jockey Jan Wilson.

The Jan Wilson Memorial Award has been launched by the Pony Racing Authority to coincide with what would have been her 20th birthday, tomorrow.

Funded by a memorial fund set up after her death, it celebrates the life of Miss Wilson and her passion for racing, and will give one young rider aged 14 to 15 the opportunity to develop their career in the saddle.

The points-based award is for riders taking part in northern and Scottish fixtures of the 2010 Charles Owen Pony Racing Series.

Jan’s mother, Margaret, said yesterday: “She would have been 20 on Saturday and this new Pony Racing Award, in memory of Jan, is a positive way to mark the occasion.

“Jan loved racing and I am delighted to offer our support to young riders like Jan starting out on their careers. If you want good jockeys we have to help them on the road.”