Mary Goble

Mary Goble and Robert Goble died in a fire at their home at 38 St Helens Road, Hastings in the early hours of Sunday, 3 February 1985.

The police said that the fire had been started with petrol.

The family had gone to bed at about 1.30am on 3 February 1985.

At about 2.45am a taxi driver drove along St Helens Road and saw two men standing by a van with an oil can near 38 St Helens Road. The taxi-driver said he assumed they had run out of petrol.

At about 3.45am a driver recalled seeing a man dash across the road and into the park opposite 38 St Helens Road.

At about the same time the parents were woken up by a fire in the house and the father went to get the children but was unable to reach them.

A neighbour rushed out with a ladder to help and another neighbour called the fire brigade. However, the children were trapped in a back bedroom. Whilst a neighbour climbed the ladder in an effort to get the parents to come down, he said he noticed a man holding a white crash helmet simply standing there nearby and watching.

The fire brigade were called at about 3.52am and they went in and got Mary Goble and Robert Goble out and they were taken to hospital but died soon after.

It was later found that someone had gone into the property and poured petrol across the stairs and about the ground floor of the property in several different places.

An oil can was later found in the back yard which was determined to have previously contained petrol and to have not belonged to the Goble family or any of their neighbours.

The police later appealed for any information about the two men that had been seen by the van with an oil can near 38 St Helens Road by the taxi-driver. One of the men was described as:

• Mid 30s.
• Sallow complexion.
• Wearing a bomber jacket.

The van was described as having been unusual and had been a  dark BMC model with windows to the rear, a model that hadn't been manufactured since 1972.

The police also appealed for information about the man seen running across the street at about 3.45am. He was described as:

• Young man in early 20s.
• Motorcycle jacket, probably leather.

It was thought that he could have been the same man that was seen shortly after the fire was discovered who was seen outside the property with a white crash helmet.

Detectives also appealed for information about a youth that had been seen sitting on a wall a few hundred yards from the house just before the fire broke out. He was described as being aged 17-18.

The police also appealed for information about a woman that was seen walking her dog near the scene, noting that it was unusual for a person to be out walking a dog at that time of night.