Dorset couple cleared of restaurant arson charge

A COUPLE accused of setting fire to their own restaurant have been cleared by a crown court jury.

Susan Cockbill, 50, and her husband Christopher Cockbill, 46, denied starting a fire at the Clay Pigeon Café at Wardon Hill, near Dorchester, Dorset, on 8 December 1996.

In Bournemouth Crown Court the prosecution alleged that the fire had been started deliberately on the ground floor and a forensic scientist found paraffin on remnants of the curtains.

The jury was told the Cockbills, of Belmont Road, Parkstone, Poole, had bought the property in 1988 for £215,000 and had a £135,000 mortgage.

But they had been losing about £2,500 a month since the business began to fail in 1991 and had put the restaurant on the market for £220,000 a month before the fire.

The court also heard the couple had bought two containers of paraffin the day before the fire.

Susan Cockbill admitted buying the paraffin but said it was a normal procedure and the fuel was for the incinerator.