Jones was caught just two days after plea by police

IT TOOK detectives just three days to catch Daniel Jones after the fatal house fire that killed Andrew Broadhead and his daughter.

The day after the blaze, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Bryar, of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, made an emotional appeal outside the family home in Stanley.

She said she believed someone in the community had the answers to the crime which shocked the quiet close-knit community.

Jones, 29, of Spawd Bone Lane, Knottingley, was arrested two days later on the evening of October 22, 2016 and first appeared at Leeds Crown Court on October 28. He denied two charges of murder and two alternative counts of manslaughter.

Jones also pleaded not guilty to burglary and to arson with intent to endanger life and an alternative charge of arson.

But he was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter and one of burglary by a jury last month.

During the trial, Leeds Crown Court was told that Jones poured petrol through the letterbox of the Ash Crescent house at 4.17am on October 19, 2016, whilst the family slept upstairs.

The prosecution said Jones was under mounting financial problems due to gambling debts and pressure to pay child support and had stolen a safe from a neighbouring house three days earlier. Speaking after the hearing yesterday, DCI Bryar said: “The terrible and tragic events of October 19, 2016 shocked not only the Stanley community but the whole of West Yorkshire.

“A loving family was left completely devastated by Jones’ actions and it is difficult to imagine the pain Sara, her daughter and the wider family have endured following the deaths of Andrew and Kiera.

“I am pleased they have seen the man responsible convicted and jailed.”