A MAN allegedly killed his mother by setting fire to their flat before driving to McDonald’s to buy a milkshake, a court has heard.
Andrew Wilding, 42, has been charged with the murder of Elsie Pinder after the blaze tore through their Essex home last year.
He allegedly started the fatal fire at around 2.45am on July 3, 2021, as the 66-year-old was in her bed.
Elsie – who had suffered a stroke and lived with mobility issues – tried to escape the roaring flames and attempted to move.
The family living above her described hearing the mum screaming her son’s name before she fell silent, Basildon Crown Court heard.
She was rescued by emergency services but suffered a heart attack and multiple organ failure after inhaling the toxic fumes.
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Elsie tragically died from her injuries.
Her upstairs neighbours thankfully woke up and smelt the smoke seeping upstairs and managed to flee to safety.
The father of the family is said to have re-entered the burning flat in an attempt to try and save Elsie and Wilding, presuming they were both still inside.
But Wilding had allegedly left the premises around 90 seconds before the smoke began trickling out of the property.
Prosecutors claim Wilding drove to McDonalds and purchased a milkshake at the drive-through while staying in the car for ten minutes.
The son then returned to the charred flat and allegedly tried to cover up the arson, spouting suggestions of how the fire could have started.
He allegedly told onlookers that the batteries in a model helicopter could have sparked the deadly blaze – which were later found in a store cupboard inside the flat.
He reportedly put forward all of those suggestions “before he was told at that point how the fire had started.”
Wilding’s search history also allegedly showed him looking up arson and “how to start a fire and make it appear accidental” shortly before the fire began.
He has been charged with his mother’s murder as well as causing arson with intent to endanger the life of the family that lived above them.
Wilding denies both counts.
As the trial began on November 15 at Basildon Crown Court, prosecuting barrister Andrew Jackson gave his opening statement.
He told the jury that Wilding went “deliberately out of his way” to make the fire look like an accident, including planting batteries and a model helicopter inside a store cupboard.
Mr Jackson said: “The prosecution’s case is in those early hours the
defendant set fire to that flat deliberately, in doing so intended to
kill his mother who at the time was asleep on her bed.”
The prosecution says the 42-year-old would know her mobility problems would make it all the more difficult for her to leave.
The prosecutor continued: “After setting the fire the defendant left the flat and went to McDonald’s.
“Elsie was found unconscious on her bed in a position that suggests that she tried to escape. She shouted for her son but had been overcome by the fumes.”
Mr Jackson said that Wilding had rekindled a relationship with an older man living in Kent before his mother’s death.
He explained the 42-year-old would travel to visit him for long periods, leaving his mother alone at home with “a few sandwiches”.
It was also heard that Wilding was unemployed and in debt at the time of the horror blaze.
The jury heard Wilding refused to answer any questions in his police
interview.
Mr Jackson said: “The answer to those questions as to why
he did this; he had come to view his mother as a burden getting in the way of obtaining financial wealth and independence.”
Shortly after Elsie’s death, her son Paul paid tribute to his late mum, describing her as a “loving woman”.
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He said: “She was a lovely, kind-hearted, generous, loving and witty lady who can only be described as a bottle of champagne waiting to pop. She will be sadly missed.”
The trial continues.
