10 years’ jail for ‘arrogant’ businessman after two killed in fireworks shop blaze

♦ An “arrogant” business owner has been jailed for 10 years for the manslaughter of two men after a fire at a shop he “rammed” with fireworks.

Richard Pearson, director of SP Fireworks, was found guilty last month of causing the deaths of Simon Hillier and Stewart Staples in the blaze in October 2014.

Mr Hillier, 41, a colleague, and Mr Staples, 57, a customer, both from Hednesford, Staffs, died as a result of inhaling combustible products from the devastating fire at Pearson’s business unit in Baswich, Staffs.

The number of fireworks stored at the unit was “up to 10 times the permitted limit”, Stafford Crown Court heard. Pearson, of Stafford, had denied manslaughter and tried to blame others, including Mr Hillier – a move the judge described as “not reasonable in any sense of the word”.

Judge Michael Chambers insisted this was “not a case where remorse loomed large” and the defendant “gave the impression of being rather arrogant”. Sentencing, the judge said Pearson had chosen to “deliberately flout the regulations and fundamental safety requirements on a grand scale”.

Mr Staples’s wife, Angela, said in a statement: “Stewart’s life was cut short by the lack of care of Richard Pearson. The ripples from Stewart’s death have spread far and wide.”

Allan Compton, prosecuting, said Pearson had been flouting the rules with a “deliberate nature of illegal activity over a number of years”.