A MAN has appeared in court accused of starting a fire in the bins at a block of flats in Newport.

Mark Anthony Smirthwaite, 46, of Beaufort Road in Newport, is on trial after a fire was started in the Greenwood block of flats in the St Julians area of the city just after 10.30pm on April 23.

Smirthwaite is charged with arson with intent to endanger life and arson reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Prosecutor Bryon Broadstock said there had been fires at the flats in January, February, and three in April, and, as a result, the rubbish chutes on each floor leading down to the bins on the ground floor, had been locked. 

Mr Broadstock told the jury the tower block has 10 floors.

“You do not need me to tell you about fires in blocks of flats and how dangerous those can be,” he said.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of Smirthwaite leaving his flat with a white carrier bag and entering the room where the bins were kept. He left the room and returned to his flat shortly afterwards.

Minutes later, the lifts in the building could be seen opening on the bottom floor, and the automatic doors at the front of the building opened – which they were programmed to do in the event of a fire, Mr Broadstock said.

“That’s the only entrace to that room,” said Mr Broadstock.

“The police recovered approximately an hour of footage of that room. You will hear that nobody else enters that room before Mr Smirthwaite.”

PC Thomas Meazey said Gwent Police asked Newport City Homes to see the CCTV footage, and after his colleague went through it, they decided to arrest Smirthwaite. 

PC Meazey said, when he arrested Smirthwaite, the defendant said that officers needed to speak to the man in one of the flats - which was the same number flat that Smirthwaite lived in.

David Pinnell, defending, asked if he had misheard the defendant, confusing the words “flat” and “floor”.

“From memory, no,” said PC Meazey, adding that he wrote his comment about an hour afterwards.

Mr Pinnell asked if it was possible the defendant had said “floor”.

“It’s possible,” said PC Meazey, adding the audio would have been recorded on the station’s CCTV cameras and could be checked.

Mr Pinnell asked the witness if he had inspected the other floors to see if smoke was coming out of any of the rubbish chutes, to which he replied he had not, but was made aware of this by firefighters.

Ieuan Hicks, a project manager at Newport City Homes, had overseen the changing of the locks on the rubbish chutes the day before the fire.

He confirmed that the new locks had no corresponding keys already in use in the building, and the keys were only accessible to Newport City Homes staff.

Mr Pinnell asked whether he had made sure all the chute doors were firmly shut after the work was completed.

“One or more of those fire doors on any given floor may have been accessible to residents,” he said.

“The tradesmen I asked to carry out the work, I know their capabilities,” said Mr Hicks, adding that although he hadn’t personally checked them, it was expected of the tradesmen doing the work.

The trial, before Judge Jenkins at Cardiff Crown Court, continues.