Magaritis Xhindi

Magaritis Xhindi died following what was described as an arson attack at a unit on the Premier Trading Estate in Brierley Hill at 7.20pm on 4 June 2020.

Two people were charged with his manslaughter, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. However, they were both jailed for a year for producing cannabis.

The industrial unit was being used as a cannabis farm at the time. Five fire crews were said to have arrived at the scene within ten minutes of the fire being reported. They tried to force open the shutters to the unit but found that it was padlocked from both the outside and the inside and that a stud wall had been placed behind the shutters and a forklift truck behind that, further blocking entry.

One of the two people charged was Magaritis Xhindi's brother and the other man had been a man that was found in the unit with Magaritis Xhindi by the fire brigade. They were both alive when found and taken to hospital, but Magaritis Xhindi later died from smoke inhalation the following day, 5 June 2020.

The fire brigade said that they were unable to determine the cause of the fire, but said that they thought it had started in the centre of the unit. The prosecution said, 'One fire officer's opinion was that the fire was accidental, caused by an unspecific electrical fault, which manifested itself in the lighting or ventilation system that had been fitted'. The judge noted that there was no evidence that the dangerous modifications to the electricity system played any part in the cause of the fire or that the defendants installed such a system.

Following the fire Magaritis Xhindi's brother and the other man both went on the run for almost three years. They had both been illegal immigrants from Albania.

The cannabis factory was described as being a sophisticated operation and worth £369k. The police found that there had been a total of 560 cannabis plants at the unit with a yield of 45kg worth £369,000.

The police said that a drone was being flown over the site at the time and that they had spoken to the owner of it.

The police said that the unit had been let from November 2019 under false details, and that by January 2020 it had been converted for use as a cannabis factory. They said that the electricity had been bypassed and adapted to provide power to an inordinate amount of heating, lighting and ventilation.

Magaritis Xhindi and the other man were found in a small room at the back of the unit that contained beds, personal belongings, food and cooking facilities. They were described as having been gardeners at the facility, whilst Magaritis Xhindi's brother was responsible for making collections and deliveries of supplies such as food and clothing as well as collecting cannabis from the site, from 9 May 2020.

The court heard that payments for rent were made by Magaritis Xhindi's brother and a fourth man who remains at large.

Magaritis Xhindi's brother was seen in CCTV getting supplies from the Asda supermarket and taking them to the unit, with some of the things that he was seen buying later being found at the unit by the police.

The man that was found with Magaritis Xhindi was put up in a hotel prior to a police interview, but he fled. He was found to have gone to the home of the fourth man, after which they both vanished. The man later had an expensive hair transplant, but was arrested during a routine traffic stop in Ilford, London on 9 December 2022.

Magaritis Xhindi's brother was later located by the police in April 2023 in London.

When the judge summed up he said, 'There is no evidence the fire was as a result of the unlawful bypassing the mains electrical supply. There is no evidence that either defendant was involved in the setting-up of the electrical system for the cannabis grow or bypassing the electrical supply. There is no evidence that either defendant knew that the electrical system was defective'. He then concluded that there was 'insufficient evidence' against the two men concerning the manslaughter charge and directed it be dismissed.

The prosecution further indicated that they would not be appealing the judge's decision.