Man set fire to his own house
THERE WAS SOMEONE ELSE INSIDE IT AT THE TIME PERPETRATOR HAD SERVED SENTENCE FOR STABBING
A SWADLINCOTE man who set his own house on fire was back before the courts again after being jailed for a brutal knife attack on his ex.
David Cord served 10 years for stabbing a former partner several times when she said she was leaving him in 2006.
Now he has been back before a jury for starting a blaze at his home in Chester Gardens, Church Gresley.
Another man was in the house at the time and had to be pulled to safety through a window.
Derby Crown Court heard Cord, 62, denied responsibility for the fire.
But a jury unanimously found him guilty of arson reckless as to whether life was endangered after a trial.
However, they cleared him of a more serious charge of arson with an intent to endanger life. Judge Martin Hurst said: “David Cord, you have been convicted through, in my judgement, overwhelming evidence.
“You said you believed the man inside [the property] had left, but he had not left.
“It was reckless rather than an attempt to endanger life. From your [criminal] record you pose a significant danger to women you had been in a relationship with.
“I am ordering a psychiatric report and also a pre-sentence report to assess your dangerousness.”
The trial heard how the fire happened in Chester Gardens, Church Gresley.
At the time Cord feared his relationship with his partner was about to end and so he contacted his son to tell him he had taken pills in an apparent suicide attempt.
He was then seen climbing out of the window of his room, but another man in the house, aged 38, was asleep in his own room at the time and had to be pulled from a window. He was unaffected by the smoke and a can of petrol was found in Cord’s bedroom.
The defendant told the jury it was someone else who was inside the bungalow and not him who started the fire.
Judge Hurst outlined the brief details of two serious previous convictions the defendant had received for serious attacks on previous partners, in similar circumstances, in that they had just ended their relationships with him.
He said the first was from 2001 when he attacked a woman with a knife.
And the second, in April 2006, saw him handed a life sentence when he stabbed a different partner multiple times in a garden before cutting his own wrists when she told him she was leaving him.
Judge Hurst said: “He served 10 years of that sentence and has a propensity to react violently when relationships break down.”
Cord, latterly of Unity Close, Church Gresley, will be sentenced by the same judge from Birmingham Crown Court on March 31.
He was remanded into custody where he has spent the past 18 months since he began the blaze.
THE most expensive homes bought across Burton and South Derbyshire last year have now been revealed.
Buying a new home is never an easy decision but if you have plenty of cash, the area has a lot of stunning houses on offer for those wanting to buy something a little more extravagant.
The most expensive house in Burton in 2020 saw its new owners fork out £1,700,000 for the property in Ashby Road, with the second most expensive in Abbots Bromley selling for £1,650,000.
Over in South Derbyshire, the priciest was in Ambaston and was sold for £1,239,706.
Here are the most expensive properties purchased in Burton and South Derbyshire in 2020 according to Land Registry records:
BURTON
■ 80 Ashby Road, Burton, DE15 0NX, which is a detached house, sold for £1,700,000 on June 23 (This sale may have been a buy-to-let, a transfer to a company, or a repossession).
■ Orchard Farm, Bromley Wood, Abbots Bromley, WS15 3AL, which is a detached house, sold for £1,650,000 on October 23.
■ The Elms, Dunstall, Burton, DE13 8BE, which is a detached house, sold for £1,195,000 on November 11.
■ 5 Church Road, Rolleston on Dove, DE13 9BE, which is a detached house, sold for £1,153,635 on March
19.
■ Barndale, Abbots Bromley Road, Hoar Cross, DE13 8RA, which is a detached house, sold for £1,080,000 on September 18.
■ The Hollies, Bond End, Yoxall, DE13 8NH, which is a semidetached house, sold for £950,000 on July 22.
■ The Old Farmhouse, Victoria Street, Yoxall, DE13 8NG, which is a detached house, sold for £850,000 on August 25.
■ Pipers Croft, Bar Lane, Barton Under Needwood, DE13 8AJ, which is a detached house, sold for £825,000 on September 04.
■ The Gardens, Savey Lane, Yoxall, DE13 8PD, which is a detached house, sold for £785,000 on September 18
SOUTH DERBYSHIRE
■ 3 Main Street, Ambaston, DE72 3ES, which is a detached house, sold for £1,239,706 on September 22.
■ Cherry Tree House, Trent Lane, Weston On Trent, DE72 2BT, which is a detached house, sold for £1,200,000 on March 13.
■ Forest View, Cockshut Lane, Melbourne, DE73 8DG, which is a detached house, sold for £1,000,000 on August 06.
■ 117 Derby Road, Melbourne, DE73 8JN, which is a detached house, sold for £850,000 on March
13.
■ The Manor, Hillside Road, Linton, DE12 6RA, which is a detached house, sold for £850,000 on August
28.
■ Piers Ridding, Church Hill, Etwall, DE65 6LT, which is a detached house, sold for £850,000 on March
06.
■ Talland,
Dalbury
Lees,
Ashbourne,
DE6 5BE, which is a detached house, sold for £840,176 on October 19.
■ 76 Burton Road, Repton, DE65 6FN, which is a detached house, sold for £800,000 on January 15.
■ 102 Ashby Road, Melbourne, DE73 8ES, which is a detached house, sold for £750,000 on January
15.
■ Earl Cottage, 100, Ashby Road, Melbourne, DE73 8ES, which is a detached house, sold for £730,000 on February 20
According to the Land Registry, 552,125 home sales have been registered across the country for 2020.
It may take several weeks for sales to be registered after completion so some sales from later in the period may not be listed yet.
The impact of coronavirus has meant that it is taking longer than for sales to be registered.
The Land Registry has also warned its services are likely to be disrupted due to the pandemic, particularly the process of registering a new sale, which likely means a longer delay between the house sale completing and the record being updated at the Land Registry.
Based on the data covering the period so far, across England and Wales, there were 12,622 £1m or more sales, including 2,496 at £2m or more.
The Land Registry lists the price paid for every property bought at market value. The data also includes sales under a power of sale/repossessions, buy-to-lets (where they can be identified by a Mortgage) and transfers to non-private individuals.
As the data relies on buyers, or their solicitors, registering the sale and the price paid with the Land Registry, mistakes in listings may happen, they are usually corrected at a later date.
Issues can include figures with too many digits or shared ownership prices paid for a part share listed as the whole price.
A SCULPTOR is hoping to raise £28,500 to create a bronze statue of Captain Sir Tom Moore to place in a hospital as a tribute to the Second World War veteran.
Andrian Melka, of Bolton Percy, in North Yorkshire, said he hopes the sculpture will provide inspiration for staff, patients and visitors and remind them that “one step in front of the other will get you somewhere”. The statue will portray the 100-year-old giving the thumbs-up as he completed 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden ahead of his birthday last year.
Mr Melka said he was inspired by that moment to create the full-size statue – which will have a seat on the walking frame to enable people to interact with the sculpture.
Mr Melka said he began the two to three-month process by making a small model and will go on to create a full-size statue in clay, before making a mould for the sculpture to be cast in bronze.
The sculptor said he had been talking to Leeds hospitals about the possibility of donating the statue.
Meanwhile, it was announced that Captain Tom’s “small family funeral” will be held on Saturday, with his family urging people to support the NHS by staying at home.