Diane Carrington

Diane Carrington died after someone poured about two litres of petrol through her letterbox at 24E Fern Court, Drakefell Road, New Cross on 4 October 2007 and set it on fire.

She lived in a flat with her 15-year-old daughter. When the petrol was lit it caused an explosion that rocked the building.

The fire brigade was called out at about 5.30am.

Her daughter managed to get out of her bedroom window but Diane Carrington fell unconscious in her room from smoke inhalation. She was taken to hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation but later had a heart attack and died at 7.10am.

Her daughter, who survived, also suffered from burns and smoke inhalation and was treated in an intensive care specialist burns unit where her condition was described as critical but stable.

A man was tried for her murder but acquitted. However, he was convicted of lesser offences and sent to a secure mental hospital after it was found that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

The man, who had lived in the same block as her, had earlier threatened to kill her. He had had a window smashed and thought that Diane Carrington had been responsible and had gone to her door and shouted, 'I'm going to get your son no matter what.'. However, he had spent the night with friends elsewhere. When police examined his clothing that he had just washed and put in a tumble dryer they found traces of petrol on them. He denied murder and attempted murder.

The court heard that Diane Carrington had a number of other enemies and that her flat had previously been the subject of an earlier arson attack.