Assault case closed after fatal fire

Three people were killed in the fire

A crown court judge halted an assault case after hearing the defendant had been killed in a flat fire.

Alan Banks, 37, from Yardley in Birmingham, faced a charge of assaulting his sister.

He had denied assaulting his sister Diane Chapman during an alleged incident in July.

Ms Chapman and her boyfriend Ged Darkes were also killed in the fire at their home in Braceny Avenue, Billesley, Birmingham, on 12 November.

The judge at Warwick Crown Court ordered Mr Banks' death to be recorded and the case closed.

The cause of the fire is not thought to be suspicious.