A YOUNG woman who died a decade after suffering significant brain damage when her father set the family home alight was ‘unlawfully killed’, a coroner has ruled.
Catriona Braithwaite, who was just nine at the time of the fatal fire, suffered injuries consistent with oxygen starvation to the brain and required medical assistance for the remainder of her life.
Her father, Phillip Braithwaite, started the fire deliberately in their Redcar home as his mental health declined in the months leading up to the incident.
In August last year, the 20-year-old, who also had cerebral palsy, was taken to James Cook University Hospital suffering from pneumonia and died on September 1.
Read more: Drug addicted prolific shoplifter locked up after breaking store worker's arm
The inquest into Mr Braithwaite’s death heard how he had become depressed and had tried to take his own life on two previous occasions.
Mr Braithwaite had researched house fires on the internet before disconnecting the smoke alarms and taking a petrol can into his home at Hawthorn Road, Redcar. He started the fatal blaze in May 2011.
The 49-year-old died at the scene and his daughter, Jessica, seven, died at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, the next day.
On Tuesday, a statement read out in court by Ms Braithwaite's mother Christine, said her daughter suffered severe brain damage and was left unable to move around or communicate much and was prone to chest infections.
Teesside's senior coroner, Clare Bailey, ruled that the 20-year-old had been killed unlawfully.
During the inquest into her husband and youngest daughter’s death in July 2012, Mrs Braithwaite said she called 999 on her mobile phone and ran into the street shouting, “the kids are in there”.
Neighbours who tried to rescue the trapped children were unable to get past the flames.
That inquest concluded that Mr Braithwaite had killed himself and Jessica had been unlawfully killed as a result of the fire in the family home on Hawthorn Road, Redcar.
In a statement at the time, Mrs Braithwaite said: “There was a wall of fire that appeared to reach the top of the door which completely filled the doorway with thick, acrid, black smoke gushing out of the room which was choking me.
“I was hysterical, I shouted out ‘what the hell have you done?’ “I couldn’t understand how a fire could have got so big and intense so quickly. I ran towards the stairs and tried to go upstairs but was immediately choking on the smoke and couldn’t go up.”
The inquest heard that Mr Braithwaite ran his own safety consultancy firm, Cotswold Safety Limited, but struggled to cope and complained of money problems after falling ill in 2010.
He had previously been treated by mental health teams and had been in hospital for six weeks.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also follow our dedicated Teesside Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.
For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here