Girl, 13, tells judge of ‘superhero’ father and sister killed by arsonist
A TEENAGE girl broke down in court as she described her father and sister, who were killed in a house fire started by a burglar, as a “the world’s greatest superhero” and “the brightest star”.
Mia Broadhead, 13, believed to be the youngest person to read a victim impact statement to a judge, addressed the hushed courtroom ahead of the sentencing of Daniel Jones, who was found guilty of the manslaughter of her father, Andrew Broadhead, 42, and her eight-year-old sister, Kiera.
As she stepped into the witness box at Leeds Crown Court, she began to cry, wiping away tears and pushing her hair off her face before describing her struggle to cope following the fire in October 2016, which she escaped with her mother.
Jones, 29, stared straight ahead as Mia said: “My daddy was the world’s greatest superhero and he was my hero. I am thankful for his happiness, kindness and his love for everyone – the way he was positive and how he always lifted everybody’s spirits.
“It is too hard to say goodbye to my dad so I say ‘if I don’t see you through the week, I’ll see you in my dreams. I love you daddy’.”
She said of Kiera: “My sissy was the world’s brightest star and nobody will dull her sparkle. I am thankful for the eight years we had with her – for her kindness, her funniness, her caring for one another and her humour. She didn’t deserve this, neither of them did.”
She said she had withdrawn from school, felt panicked with people and was constantly worried something might happen to her mother.
As she finished reading her statement, Mia returned to the public gallery where she was hugged by her mother, Sara Broadhead, 35, who also read out a personal impact statement to the judge, fighting back tears as she described Keira as “a little angel” and paid tribute to her “amazing” husband.
The jury heard how Jones, a debtridden father-of-two, had stolen a safe containing £850 and drugs from a friend’s house opposite the Broadhead’s home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, last October.
But he became worried that CCTV footage from their home would have captured him in the act and so, believing the Broadheads to be on holiday, poured petrol through their letterbox and set it alight.
In fact, the family of four had returned home just hours earlier and were in bed when the property was engulfed in flames shortly after 4am.
Detectives later found the camera was not even working.
Mrs Broadhead described the “panic” as she and her husband, a railway engineer were woken by a bang and saw flames surrounding the front door.
She woke her elder daughter to jump out of a window on to a utility room roof before she followed her out, believing her husband and Kiera were behind her. She heard her husband and daughter “coughing and screaming” before “it all went quiet”.
Her worst fears were confirmed when the fire brigade managed to get
‘My daddy was the world’s greatest superhero … my sissy was the world’s brightest star’
inside the house.
“Eventually, I saw Kiera being carried out and as they were bringing her down I saw her arm move and my heart jumped,” she said in a statement.
“She was laid on the grass but then I realised that she hadn’t made it. I was standing there in a daze staring at my little girl on the grass.”
A jury found Jones not guilty of two counts of murder but guilty of two counts of manslaughter. He was jailed for 20 years.
The judge had to give special permission for Mia to be in the courtroom, as the usual age limit is 14 in the Crown Court.
Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said later: “As far as I know it’s the first time that a 13-year-old has had enough courage to come and give a victim personal statement in court. It was very brave and anyone who was there saw how much it affected her and, also, quite how brave she was.”