Blaze that killed Sandra Nowocinska 'started by drunk neighbour setting fire to bin'
A man set fire to a wheelie bin outside a block of flats sparking a huge blaze that killed a young mother, a court heard.
Sandra Nowocinska, aged 22, was in a flat above a row of shops in Kidderminster which filled with smoke from the raging fire below.
She died four days later in hospital after being found unconscious in her bedroom by firefighters.
A five-year-old boy also suffered burns but survived.
Her neighbour Mark Moat is accused of starting the fire by setting a wheelie bin alight in a passageway below the flats in Horsefair in November 2014.
Worcester Crown Court heard Moat, who denies manslaughter and two charges of arson being reckless to whether life would be endangered, had a history of calling 999 and threatening to start fires.
He is alleged to have called 999 eight months earlier threatening to start a fire before firefighters were called to put out a burning armchair at the flats.
Miss Rachel Brand, prosecuting, said Moat, aged 43, of Wilkins Close, Highley, near Bridgnorth, was 'not a rational or sober man' and was drunk when he allegedly set fire to the bin.
People living in the flats attempted to flee in their panic after the smoke alarms were set off by the fire below.
They included Ms Nowocinska's partner Fabian Kobusinki who jumped from the first floor window to the ground below, Ms Brand said.
Moat had stayed in his flat as the fire took hold and was the last person rescued.
Firefighters found him hanging out of his window, the court heard.
The trial continues.
