PURE EVIL
Owner of stables where 12 horses and ponies died in blaze vents fury at arsonist
THE owner of the equestrian centre where 12 horses and ponies died in a blaze yesterday branded the suspected arsonist ‘pure evil’.
Fire tore through the 120ft barn a week ago, killing the animals inside and traumatising those in nearby buildings.
A cat that lived at the yard, called Vinnie, is now known to have perished as well.
So far police have said only that they are treating the fire as ‘suspicious’.
But the Daily Mail can reveal that an intruder tried to avoid being identified by covering one CCTV camera and evading eight others.
It suggests an arsonist had a detailed knowledge of Elmwood Equestrian Centre in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex – and would have been aware that a large number of horses were inside the barn.
Anne Hull, 56, the co-owner of Elm Farm where the centre is based, said: ‘I don’t think it was someone larking about because the camera [that was covered] was quite high up and we’d have seen them on the other cameras. It looks like someone who knows the site a bit. It was pure evil.’
Helen Waller, whose family lost three animals, said: ‘There must be something seriously wrong in their head to kill someone’s ponies. There’s nothing to justify what they’ve done.’
Grace Tredgold, 18, whose ten-year- old thoroughbred mare Willow died, said: ‘ It makes me feel sick. There’s been a lot of tears.’
CCTV footage shows a camera overlooking the barn being covered by material at around 11pm on Sunday, December 3. The individual remained out of shot.
Minutes later other cameras on the farm picked up the glow as the fire took hold in the former cow shed, a wooden structure with corrugated metal roofing.
Hay to feed the horses helped the fire spread rapidly and by the time Miss Hull and her partner David Shaw arrived they were met with a wall of flame and heat.
Miss Hull said: ‘It was horrendous. It was eerie because it was deadly silent apart from the crackling of the flames. There was no noise from the horses.’
The horses are believed to have fallen unconscious quickly after being overcome by smoke. The alarm was raised by a neighbouring farmer and the couple managed to free about 50 horses from nearby buildings with the help of a passer-by. Seven fire crews arrived and within a short time around 100 members of public had turned up – many of them distraught owners or riders of horses trapped in the blazing building. Miss Hull said: ‘It was absolutely devastating. There were people weeping. One young girl lost her horse – she’d only had him a week.’ Initially, 15 horses were believed to have died but three were released into nearby fields in the confusion.
The 12 that died are Gizmo, Rex, Murphy, Willow, Archie, Diamond, Priya, Rio, Minnie, Zinny, Poppy and Alesha. The disaster could have been much worse because up to 30 horses can be stabled in the barn, which houses private liveries.
Mrs Waller and her family lost Gizmo, a nine-year- old Welsh pony, Rex, a 20-yearold Connemara, and twoyearold Murphy, a Gypsy Cob. Beth Battson, 18, who often rode Rex, said: ‘He was the best pony ever.’
A JustGiving page set up to raise £2,500 for the horse owners had reached more than £20,000 last night. Pledges have come in from as far away as the US and Dubai.
Miss Hull added: ‘We haven’t got the foggiest who did this. I’ve lived here on the farm for 34 years. We had a barn burn down 11 years ago just with straw in it but it was never clear what the cause was.’
Essex Police declined to comment on the suspected arsonist. A spokesman said: ‘ It is being treated as suspicious.’