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Sandra Nowocinska death: Neighbour accused of starting fatal blaze insists he was asleep

A man accused of starting a fire which killed a young mother at a block of flats where he lived claimed he was asleep when the blaze began, a court heard.

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Mark Moat is alleged to have set a wheelie bin alight which then spread to the block of flats in Kidderminster.

His neighbour Sandra Nowocinska, aged 22, was found unconscious in her bedroom by firefighters after inhaling smoke.

She died four days later in hospital.

A five-year-old boy suffered burns but survived.

Her partner Fabian Kobusinski managed to escape by leaping from a first floor window.

When questioned by police about the fire, Moat, aged 43, who is charged with unlawfully killing her, said he had been awoken by a bang and the smell of smoke.

He denies a charge of manslaughter and two counts of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

Moat was the last person to be rescued from the flats by firefighters at the scene and was discovered hanging out of his window, Worcester Crown Court.

The prosecution claim he returned to his flat after starting the fire in the wheelie bin and remained there as it engulfed the property that was directly below.

The court heard that the flames became so intense that people who had come from the Peacock pub, across the road to try and help could not get through the passageway as smoke from the fire began to fill the properties above.

Ms Rachel Brand, prosecuting, said: "Throughout all this panic and confusion and emotion Mark Moat stayed in his flat.

"Firefighters got inside Mark Moat's flat and found him hanging half way out of the window trying to get some air.

"He asked what was going on. He was told there had been a fire and got him safely out of the building." She added: "Straight away and throughout he denied having anything to do with the fire.

"He said initially he got back about 8pm or 8.30pm and was asleep and was awoken by a loud bang and found that his room was full of smoke."

It was also revealed that Moat had made a 999 call on the day of the fire claiming that he had carried out a burglary.

Three months earlier, firefighters had also been called to the courtyard next to the flats to put out an armchair that was alight.

Moat, a self-confessed alcoholic who claimed he could drink 24 cans of lager a day, had also called fire service on 999 the same day threatening to start a fire, the court was told.

One of the arson charges he faces relates to that fire.

Recordings of other emergency calls he made were also played to the court in which he threatened to 'blow up' the Crystal Cafe, which was formerly below Ms Nowocinska's flat before becoming a Cash for Clothes shop, and 'kill everyone inside'.

However, under questioning from Ms Abigail Nixon, defending, firefighter Neil Bennett admitted the armchair fire was unlikely to have spread and would probably have burned out on its own had crews not arrived at the scene.

He also told the jury a man in his 20s was accused of starting that fire by his partner at the scene.

The trial continues.

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