A dying couple vainly screamed for help from behind barred bedroom windows in a burning flat, a judge has heard. "The flat they had moved into only that very day was a death-trap," Mr Breffni Gordon told the Circuit Civil Court.
He told Judge Liam Devally that Gerard Kavanagh and his eight months' pregnant girlfriend, Marie Corr, died in the bedroom of their flat above a shop in Decies Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, on February 18th, 1995.
Mr Gordon outlined the tragic circumstances of the couple's death in a claim for up to £30,000 damages for mental distress and loss by Gerard's brother, Noel.
Gerard and Marie had been spending their first night in the flat they had rented from Messrs John and Neil McCarthy, after earlier celebrating Gerard's 28th birthday.
The celebrations had started in a nearby pub and the couple returned to the flat with some friends. By about 1 a.m., Gerard and Marie had gone to bed. Mr Gordon said that two hours later an intruder, who had apparently been unable to break into the ground-floor shop, started a fire. The windows of the upstairs flat had bars on them and Gerard and Marie were unable to escape.
Mr Richard McDonnell, counsel for the McCarthys, said that it was the defendants' position that they were not negligent or in breach of duty.
Judge Devally held that fire escape facilities in the flat were inadequate and breached fire regulations. He adjourned consideration of damages.