A PENNILESS thief accused of murdering a widow who had fostered more than 50 children tried to destroy the evidence in an explosion, it was claimed today.

Gareth Dack used a cable to strangle Norma Bell, 79, stole a boxed TV and £60, and repeatedly used her landline to call sex-chat lines, Teesside Crown Court has heard.

The 33-year-old, of Windermere Road, Hartlepool, denies murdering the pensioner at her home in Westbourne Road between April 2-3, and a charge of arson.

Christopher Tehrani QC, prosecuting, told the jury that out-of-work asbestos stripper Dack tried to cover his tracks with a gas explosion, by starting fires and leaving the gas hob on in her kitchen.

Mr Tehrani said: "When he decided to leave the premise one final time, we suggest to you, Gareth Dack decided to cover his tracks by setting fire to the house - for good measure he turned the gas on at the hob - no doubt hoping the gas would ignite and cause an explosion destroying any scientific evidence that he believed he may have left behind.

"Fortunately, the gas did not collect to the point it became combustible."

continuing to outline the prosecution case on the second day of the trial, Mr Tehrani said: "We suggest you can be sure, when you take account of all the evidence that you will hear, that Gareth Dack is in fact guilty of the brutal and unnecessary murder of Norma Bell and the arson charged.

"The prosecution suggest Gareth Dack suffocated Norma Bell and killed her.

"He stole the television and sold it for £60.

"He searched Norma Bell's home looking for money or anything valuable that he could dispose of."

The jury has heard Dack was a drug-user who the week before had asked Mrs Bell, an accomplished book-keeper, to lend him £20.

Mr Tehrani said: "Mr Dack needed cash and he was going to do whatever it took to get the money from Norma Bell."

Dack is accused of attacking Mrs Bell and between midnight and 5am using her phone to call the "soft-porn television service" Babestation as she lay dead or dying on the floor.

He is accused of taking £700 she was looking after for one of her children and police found £405 in the glovebox of his car.

The jury has heard that Dack was interviewed seven times by the police but chose not to answer all "substantive" questions.

A week after he was charged, he told police he had been "badly advised" to remain silent and explained the presence of his DNA in the property was because he had "done some work for Norma".

The prosecution did not accept that, saying that Mrs Bell had a close family who would do jobs for her.

Mrs Bell and her late husband John had looked after more than 50 children.

They had three children and six long-term foster children they treated as their own, the jury heard.

The jury also heard evidence from firefighters who were called to the scene at 8.20am on Sunday, April 3.

The first pair through the front door - which had to be smashed down - was Anna Huntington and Rob Morgan.

Statements from the emergency workers were read to the jury by Mr Tehrani, and told of a dangerous situation.

Neither of them knew until later that the gas had been turned on in the kitchen and there could have been a blast.

But they had been warned by commanders that there could be a "backdraft" if oxygen was introduced to the property too quickly.

Anna Huntington said in her statement: "There was thick black smoke in front of my face, and it was very hot.

"I said 'we can't go in there until we've got our thermal imaging camera' which is basically our eyes, which allow us to see where the fire is and where to direct the water.

"Me and Rob were at the doorway of the room where the fire was. We could not get in because it was hot and dead smokey.

"We had to use a hose reel to push back the flames so we could enter the room. We were on our knees.

"As I pushed the flames back, I noticed that the door was already open and the flames were behind the door.

"As I shuffled in on my knees, I put my right hand out on the floor, and that's when I came across the casualty."

Mrs Bell suffered 15 "recent" injuries, the court heard, including damage to bones and cartilage in her neck and broken ribs which could have been caused when her attacker throttled her.

Dr Bolton said the electrical wire which had been used as a ligature had also left bruising on the widow's neck, and "pinpoint dot" bruises in her eyelids suggested pressure in that area.