The man accused of setting fire to one of the county’s most famous gastropubs has been found not guilty of the allegation even before a trial was due to be held.
Charles Birkett, 28, was accused of using a lit cigarette to torch the Star Inn at Helmsley following a huge blaze at the thatched 14th-century pub and restaurant on 24 November, 2021.
He was charged with arson causing over £2 million of damage to the Michelin-starred restaurant in Harome, on the edge of the North York Moors, and being reckless as to whether property would be destroyed and life endangered.
Mr Birkett, a shooting estate manager, of Rosedale Lane, Helmsley, appeared at York Crown Court today (Friday) when he pleaded not guilty to the allegation and the prosecution offered no evidence, stating that expert evidence had shown that he was completely innocent.
It followed the production of a new report by one of Britain’s leading fire investigators, Dr Peter Mansi, which was paid for by Mr Birkett’s family, who run the Rievaulx Sporting estate, in North Yorkshire.
Prosecutor Stephen Grattage said that this expert evidence had shown that the fire had been caused accidentally by people flicking cigarette ends near the pub, which is owned by North Yorkshire businessman and chef Andrew Pern.
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He said the fire would have started when flames from a metal candle bucket underneath a bench next to the pub caught cigarette ends which had been discarded around the bench.
The resulting fire then caught some dry or dying ivy and spread up the wall of the pub onto the thatch.
A trial had been scheduled for July next year, but Mr Grattage said the notion that Mr Birkett had somehow inserted a lit cigarette into the thatch of the pub had been debunked.
The prosecution no longer wanted a trial because they concurred with the defence assertion that an accident had caused the fire to spread above the front door of the pub outside the bar area.
‘Considerable distress’
Defence barrister Sophie Cartwright KC said that the accusation levelled at Mr Birkett had caused him and his wider family “considerable distress”.
An expert’s report had resulted in there now being a “complete acceptance that Mr Birkett was not the ignition source of the fire”.
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he would be recording a not-guilty verdict and commended Mr Birkett’s defence team for producing “such a detailed and thoroughly convincing report” which had exonerated the defendant.
He told Mr Birkett: “This was an accidental fire by people dropping cigarettes into a metal candle bucket.
“The candle flame descended onto cigarette ends and they caught fire. It caught the dry ivy behind the green ivy and crept up the wall into the thatch.
“There was even a perfectly round burn mark found on the bench under which the candle had been sitting, indicating that the candleholder had got hot.
“You were not to blame for this; you were perfectly innocent, and you leave this court without a stain on your character.”
Emotional statement
Speaking outside the court, Mr Birkett said: “I cannot quite describe the last two years and what myself, and then my family and friends have been through.
“I am extremely lucky to have had such an amazing family, girlfriend and friends to help me through what has been the hardest time of my life.”
He said that, within 15 minutes of being provided with the prosecution papers, Dr Mansi “categorically could state that the prosecution case was entirely misconceived” and that fire investigators followed an “entirely incorrect hypothesis”.
Mr Birkett said his defence team was able to secure hours of video footage prior to the fire starting, which the police had, which showed “that the fire was nothing to do with me”.
He said: “For over two years, this has effected me as a person hugely, effected my job and income, and taken a massive toll on Hannah, my girlfriend, who has been a rock throughout this, as well as my family and friends.”
Mr Birkett said: “I cannot thank Andrew Pern and his family enough, for all their kind words and support.
“We are extremely close as families and were it not for his decency, his kindness and his knowledge of me and that I would never have done what the police alleged, I think that this negligent and flawed prosecution would have ruined the relationship between our families.”
He said: “My worry is that there are other people out there under similar circumstances who would not have had the support, financially and emotionally, that was needed to prove my innocence.”
The Star Inn has regularly featured in lists of the best restaurants and gastropubs since the arrival of chef and patron Andrew Pern more than 25 years ago.
The inn was rebuilt and reopened on the anniversary of the fire in 2022.
No-one was injured in the blaze, and more than 40 firefighters battled to save the building.