A BOY was killed when arsonists set fire to his house in a tragic case of mistaken identity, a court heard.

Dean Pike's badly burned body was found by firefighters on the landing of his home - which no longer had stairs because of the 1,000 degrees Centigrade heat.

The 11-year-old's pregnant mother, Janine Dodd, 30, was blown out of an upstairs window but survived her ordeal.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Dean's body had been partially cremated by the intensity of the blaze as the flames swept through his home in Mordey Close, Deerness Park, Hendon, Sunderland.

At its height, the heat was so intense that the front door melted.

The court heard how the two-bedroom terraced house was set alight by Neil English, 43, Terry Majinusz, 41, and Trevor Gordon, 22, who used lighter fluid to start the blaze.

The house was mistakenly targeted by the trio, who were looking for relatives of Majinusz's 18-year-old girlfriend. He was angry because some of her family disapproved of the 22-year age gap in their relationship, the court heard.

Brian Forster, prosecuting, said: "Miss Dodd did not know the defendants and they did not know her. There had been no trouble between them whatsoever.

"The defendants had gone to the wrong house. They had intended to go for someone else's home but they ended up at the wrong street.

"Miss Dodd and her son were innocent victims sleeping in their own beds in their own home."

Mr Forster told the court that the emergency services were alerted to the blaze by Miss Dodd at 12.50am, on June 24 last year.

But the call ended before she could give the operator her address, probably due to an explosion.

Mr Forster said: "A leading firefighter climbed a ladder to gain access to the first floor of the house. On the upstairs landing, he found the body of Dean Pike. The boy was dead."

Miss Dodd was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital before being transferred to the neurosurgical unit at Newcastle General.

As well as the effects of smoke inhalation, she had a fractured skull, bleeding on her brain and a fractured vertebrae.

She subsequently gave birth to a healthy baby.

A post-mortem examination showed Dean had died from a combination of smoke inhalation and burns.

Mr English, of Chester Road, Sunderland; Mr Majinusz, of North Bridge Street, Sunderland; and Mr Gordon, of Redmond Road, Sunderland, all deny murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.