A CONVICTED arsonist accused of starting a house fire that killed a schoolboy sleeping inside, told a court he was watching television at home when the fire was started.

Neil English, who set fire to his former girlfriend's home in 1997, told jurors in the Dean Pike murder trial that his co-accused, Terry Majinusz, left his bedsit that night in a rage and armed with a can of lighter fuel.

Mr Majinusz told Newcastle Crown Court he saw English start the fire that killed Dean, 11, and blew his pregnant mother out of an upstairs window at their home in Mordey Close, Hendon, Sunderland.

The court heard that the intended target that night was a man called Darren Fletcher, who lived in another house.

English told the court yesterday that Mr Majinusz flew into a rage and travelled to Hendon after he received a call from his girlfriend saying she was arguing with her family.

English said: "He went ballistic. He went underneath the kitchen sink and got a tin of lighter fuel."

English said that when Mr Majinusz returned to the flat, he said: "That's that f***ing sorted."

English, 43, of Chester Road, Sunderland, Mr Majinusz, 40, of Chester Road, Sunderland, and Trevor Gordon, 22, of Redmond Road, Sunderland, deny murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and arson with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.