Man denies killing family in fire

Mark Goldstraw has denied four counts of murder

A man accused of killing three children and a man in a house fire has taken the stand in court to plead his innocence.

Mark Goldstraw, 31, was asked three times by his barrister whether he started the fire in Cheddleton, Staffs, last March, but denied any involvement.

Marcus Carter, seven, and his sisters Samantha, 16, and Patricia, 10, died with Roddy Hine, 44, in the fire.

Mr Goldstraw, of Compton House, Leek, who has a previous conviction for manslaughter, denies the four murders.

'Mental support'

At Stafford Crown Court on Friday, Mr Goldstraw's barrister Mark Wall, QC, asked his client three times whether he had murdered Roddy, Samantha or her younger siblings.

Mr Goldstraw answered "no" each time.

Mr Wall went on: "Did you have anything at all to do with the setting of the fire at their house?"

Marcus Carter, Patricia Carter and Samantha Carter died in the fire

Mr Goldstraw replied: "Nothing at all."

Later the defendant told how Mr Hine, the partner of the children's mother, had been a "shoulder to cry on" when he was released from prison in 2004 following his manslaughter conviction.

"He was a very good friend to me before - he kept in touch through my mother while I was in prison.

"Not only would he help me physically with bikes but he was a very strong, mental support to me," he said.

Petrol-soaked clothes

Mr Goldstraw, who had been in a relationship with Samantha Carter, also said her two younger siblings had "meant the world" to him.

During his two hours on the witness box he admitted he twice left his mother's house on his motorbike on the night of 9 March, the night of the fire, but claimed he had not been to Cheddleton.

Instead, he said he had just been driving about to get some fresh air.

He also denied putting petrol-soaked clothes into a wheelie-bin outside his mother's house when he got home.

Police found the clothes, a t-shirt, lumberjack shirt and trainers, on 10 March.