THE FIRE TOOK PLACE IN AUGUST 2014 IN PUERTO DEL CARMEN

The accused of burning an inhabited apartment from which he was expelled denies the facts in the trial

The tenant who was inside the house and suffered burns has not come to testify as a witness, although the Court has not agreed to suspend the trial

March 13 2017 (17:09 WET)
The accused of burning an inhabited apartment from which he was expelled denies the facts in the trial
The accused of burning an inhabited apartment from which he was expelled denies the facts in the trial

Ben William John Jackson, the British citizen accused of causing a fire inside the house he shared in Puerto del Carmen when the other tenant, Toni J.D., was sleeping, denied this Monday before the Sixth Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas the facts that are imputed to him. According to the prosecutor's indictment, hours before the events, which occurred in the early morning of August 11, 2014, Toni J.D. "had required the defendant to leave the home." The man is accused of a crime of arson with danger to life or physical integrity and a misdemeanor of injury, for which the Prosecutor's Office is asking for a sentence of 17 years in prison and a fine of 540 euros.

In addition, the prosecutor asks that the defendant pay, as civil liability, 44,520 euros that the company GES Seguros y Reaseguros S.A. has paid to the owners of the house. He also demands that he pay another 2,628 euros to the owner of an adjacent house, which suffered damage as a result of the fire.

Ben Willian John Jackson, who is in provisional prison since August 14, 2014, has stated that he had been sharing the house with Toni J.D. for a month, along with his partner and his five-month-old baby, as the main tenant, since "she had no money" and in this way they shared the expenses. The accused has denied his initial statement, in which he indicated that the woman had let him and his family live in the house because he was the one who "had financial problems." This has not been the only aspect of his statement that has changed throughout the first day of the trial.

He claims he decided to leave the house


Accompanied by an interpreter, the accused has stated that the tenant had not asked him to leave the house, but that he was the one who decided to do so. According to his new account, "there were several people in the house and drugs everywhere." Reasons why he took his baby and left "to a friend's house." His partner later also left. Later, he claims that he decided to return to the house, after verifying that he had left things behind, including "a baby chair and 450 euros inside a dvd case."

However, he has stated that when he arrived at the house he found the door closed, he peeked through a crack, called the tenant without her answering, looked through the window and left. When asked by the defense, he has stated that he did not find "any broken glass from the window next to the access door" and that "he did not cause any fire." He has also stated that he returned the next morning "to talk" with Toni J.D. and try to reach an agreement. "I arrived at eight in the morning and then I saw the Civil Guard," he indicated.

The accused has also stated that there used to be "candles of all sizes" in the house because the tenant was "hippie." However, when asked, he has not been able to specify if she ever left them lit when she went to sleep.

Suspension request


The trial has started with delay since several witnesses have not appeared, among them the tenant of the house who, as a consequence of the fire, suffered a burn on her forearm. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the woman has renounced any compensation that may correspond to her and did not file a complaint, but she had been summoned as a witness.

Juicio incendio apt PºTº Carmen (1)

The prosecutor has requested the suspension of the trial because she considers that her testimony was necessary to "know the motive." For its part, the defense has argued the need for the trial to take place taking into account that the accused has been in pre-trial detention since 2014, that a suspension has already occurred and that witnesses have traveled expressly from the United Kingdom. "What do we do with them, are they asked to come again," he asked.

Finally, the Chamber has decided to hold the trial as planned, this Monday and Tuesday. In this sense, it has indicated that Toni J.D., who resides in London, "knew that there was absolutely no problem to testify by videoconference and has not requested it." In addition, it has considered that "there are no expectations that a change will occur" in a future new trial date and that the displacements that have occurred and the period that the defendant has been deprived of liberty must be taken into account.

Most read