Moment teenagers lob a firework into a house that started a massive blaze and killed an OAP: Pair are jailed for manslaughter

Daily Mail​

02-06-2025

This is the moment a hooded teenager threw a lit firework into a home that started a massive blaze and killed a widower pensioner.
Robert Price, 76, had been the victim of a years-long campaign of harassment and criminal damage before he died in the horror fire.
The OAP, who had early signs of dementia, had been tormented by local youths to the point where all of his ground floor windows had been boarded up.
Doorbell video and CCTV captured the yobs walking up to Mr Price's property in Oval Road North, Dagenham, on 27 July 2024.
One lout then climbs onto a brick wall to lob a firework through a boarded-up window, and then sprint away from the house before the camera visibly shakes.
Paramedics and firefighters rushed to Mr Price's home and forced entry where they discovered his body.
He was pronounced dead at the scene with a post-mortem examination later giving the cause of death as inhalation of fire fumes and burns.
Nathan Otitodilchukwu, 18, and a 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were today both jailed after previously admitting manslaughter.
Otitodilchukwu was handed a six year jail term, while the teenager was sentenced to two years and eight months.
Mr Price's family today thanked the CPS, police and social services 'for the work and support they have given us during this difficult time'.
'We would ask that our privacy be respected to allow us to grieve in peace,' they said in a statement released by Scotland Yard.
The teenage killers were involved in trying to hurl a firework into Mr Price's home earlier that day but they fled when the pensioner opened his front door.
Doorbell footage showed Mr Price open the door slightly and say something, before the 16-year-old ran away shouting 'he saw me fam' as the youths aborted their attack.
A short time later, they walked back towards the house, with doorbell footage capturing him saying, 'come with me, come with me' and then 'gonna f****** torch this n****', the Old Bailey previously heard.
The duo ran into the front garden of the house before the 16-year-old stepped on the gas meter box, reached above the boarded-up section of the window and punched a hole, the court was told.
Otitodilchukwu is heard on Ring doorbell footage saying: 'Gonna f***ing torch this n*****', 'Yo, you f***ing paedo', 'yo you f***ing d***head' ' 'We are gonna f**k you up,' before running away.
Sentencing the duo today, Judge Rebecca Trowler KC told the younger boy: 'Mr Price lost his life in circumstances of a planned attack where I am sure you intended some harm, and in any event it was highly reckless as to the risk of harm.'
She noted the older defendant had 'poor impulse control' and a 'lack of appreciation of the impact on others'.
However, his was a 'determined effort to carry out this offence and cause harm just short of serious harm', she said.
The judge accepted that the younger defendant may have been 'encouraged' by the other boy who had previously been involved in criminal behaviour.
She also noted that he had expressed 'remorse' and awareness of the 'gravity' of the offence.
Previously, prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC had told how Mr Price's terraced home caught fire in July 2024, with black smoke filling the house before he could be saved.
'Robert Price was killed in a fire which was started at his home address by the two defendants who smashed a window at his property and threw a firework inside,' she told the court.
John Shoesmith, who had been friends with Mr Price for 10 years, said he would never leave his house because 'kids would disturb him,' Ms Farrelly said.
Mr Shoesmith described him as socially awkward and said his lack of social skills and poor hearing meant some people found him 'hard to get along with'.
The harassment included acts of criminal damage to his house, the court heard.
According to Mr Shoesmith, Mr Price's windows were regularly smashed by a number of the local children, to the point that he had his downstairs windows boarded up.
'In Mr Shoesmith's words, this would happen all the time and they would make his life hell,' Ms Farrelly said.
The most recent incident of criminal damage had occurred three days before Mr Price's death, when a brick had been put through his window, the court heard.
CCTV footage from the day of the fire showed that in the hours before the attack, Otitodilchukwu, who was living in care, met up with the 16-year-old boy.
They filmed themselves launching a firework into a lake, the court was told.
At around 5.30pm, they walked towards Mr Price's house with the 16-year-old holding what was believed to be a firework, Ms Farrelly said.
Doorbell footage showed Mr Price open the door slightly and say something, before the 16-year-old ran away shouting 'he saw me fam' shortly before the youths returned and carried out the attack.
'A loud bang can be heard, followed by high-pitched laughing as the group run away,' the prosecutor said.
A few minutes later, smoke could be seen coming out of the window, before flames and black smoke engulfed the room, the court heard.
A neighbour who had seen the flames knocked on the door and briefly spoke to Mr Price, but his 'responses became less clear', the court was told.
The neighbour tried to get into the house to rescue Mr Price, but the door was locked, Ms Farrelly said.
Firefighters were later able to get inside and put out the fire, but Mr Price could not be saved.
When Otitodilchukwu, of Romford, returned to his care home that evening, he spoke to a support worker and said, 'I'm going to do 20 years in jail' and 'Don't check for news about what happened in Dagenham', the court heard.
A little later he also told his support worker: 'I was drinking with my friends on Saturday and we were shooting fireworks.'
A few days later, he asked a woman if she had heard about the fire, before telling her, 'If anyone asks, don't say I was in Dagenham,' the court was told.
When asked why, he said: 'Maybe I started the fire with a firework.'
He went on to say that he was drunk with two of his friends, that he had put a firework through a letter box and that it was funny.
Otitodilchukwu was arrested the same day and the 16-year-old was arrested the following month.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Price's family said he was a 'kind' and 'generous' man, and described the 'suffering' that he must have endured.
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Clarke, from Specialist Crime North, said: 'This is a deeply tragic case, which saw a man lose his life in his own home after a completely mindless and reckless act had devastating consequences.
'The young defendants will now have to face the consequences of their actions by spending time in prison.
'I hope Robert's family can take some solace in this outcome and am pleased the defendants spared them the ordeal of a trial.