Arsonist who killed three-year-old girl jailed for life

Graham Heaps told he must serve a minimum of 28 years in prison for murdering toddler by setting fire to her family home

By Helen Carter - Guardian.co.uk

December 8, 2009

A man who killed a three-year-old girl in a house fire during a revenge attack at the home of his former girlfriend's family was today jailed for life for murder.

Graham Heaps, a 44-year-old labourer, was told he would not be eligible for parole for at least 28 years after the "wicked, vengeful, and cowardly attack", which killed Francesca Bimpson.

Her parents and three siblings survived the fire with less severe injuries.

Heaps was convicted on Monday by a jury at Liverpool crown court of murdering the girl at her home in Liverpool last December. He was sentenced today.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Henriques, told Heaps: "Your shocking, wicked act of setting fire to a family home with four children asleep in their beds was, in my judgment, motivated by sheer spite.

"It was a vengeful and cowardly attack on a family of six in their own home.

"They are a loving, close unit who did not deserve to be cursed by your unwelcome attention.

"Your intent was, I believe, to burn – that is, to kill – this whole family in their beds as they slept."

Francesca suffered 85% burns when she was unable to escape the smoke and flames and hid underneath a blanket. Petrol had been poured through the letterbox and ignited. She was rescued by firefighters but died from complications as a result of her burns in hospital three weeks later, on 23 December.

The jury heard that Heaps, who had had a relationship with one of Francesca's aunts, Linda Skelhorne, started the fire deliberately. The couple were woken by smoke alarms.

Francesca's father, Kieron Bimpson, 37, jumped from a first-floor window, leaving his panic-stricken partner holding their 17-month-old baby, Anne-Marie.

Although he was injured in the fall, he was able to reach the front of the property and climb on to a porch canopy to try to rescue his eight-year-old daughter, Christina, who shared a bedroom with Francesca.

The children's uncle, Frankie Skelhorne, who lives nearby, heard about the fire and kicked the front door in to find his sister in the main bedroom holding her baby "in a state of panic".

Christina lacked the strength to lift Francesca to safety from the front bedroom, and her father was unable to reach her before the guttering gave way beneath him.

Another sibling, 14-year-old Kieron Bimpson, jumped from a bedroom window. He also was unable to help his sister.

The court heard Heaps was an onlooker at the scene and briefly entered the house in an apparent rescue attempt, during the course of which he set his trousers alight. But he was attempting to destroy petrol on his clothing, and there was no good reason for him to be there.

A fire crew reached the house four minutes after receiving the emergency call. When Francesca was removed from the house, she was breathing faintly but had severe injuries.

Heaps was found lying face down on the lawn outside the house. Nearby was an empty plastic fuel container that was on fire. He had suffered burns and was semi-conscious. He was later cautioned and arrested while in hospital.

It later emerged that he had been in a relationship with Linda Skelhorne that ended acrimoniously. He had stolen a sim card from her mobile phone and, according to the prosecution, "bombarded" her sister Eleanor with obscene text messages and phone calls. Eleanor Skelhorne, 37, broke down while giving evidence against Heaps and the trial was adjourned briefly after she launched a verbal assault at him.

Heaps had told police he had visited a takeaway on the night of the attack, yet CCTV footage disproved this claim, the court heard.

Earlier, the court heard that Heaps had a career of petty crime and burglary stretching back 30 years to when he was a teenager.

Some jurors covered their faces with their hands as victim impact statements telling of the family's grief were read out.

"We are as a family trying to understand the murderous actions of a callous, vengeful, selfish coward who must be severely punished for his heinous crime," part of one statement read.

"The endless flashbacks and helplessness, emotional and physical pain and suffering is almost too much to bear. We went to sleep on a December night looking forward to Christmas and awoke in hell."

Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Naylor, of Merseyside police, said the investigation had been traumatic for everyone involved and that the defendant had lied throughout the inquiry and the trial.

He added: "He [Heaps] has never once shown remorse for any of his actions. He has never shown any sympathy to any of the family at all for the trauma he has brought them.

"I hope today's verdict and sentence has been some justice for Francesca and her family."

Outside court, Mr Bimpson said: "There will never be a fitting justice for our baby. Her life was cruelly and prematurely taken by a coward."

He paid tribute to the tremendous courage and dignity of his other children and family.

Francesca's father said he was pleased with the 28-year jail term but added: "A hundred years, a million years, would not be long enough."