Man found not guilty of £2 million arson at famous Star Inn pub in Helmsley

Charles Birkett, 28, was accused of using a lit cigarette to torch the Star Inn at Helmsley following a huge blaze at the thatched 14th-century pub/restaurant on November 24, 2021.

He was charged with arson causing over £2 million of damage to the Michelin-starred restaurant in Harome, on the edge of the North York Moors, and being reckless as to whether property would be destroyed and life endangered.

Today, Mr Birkett, of Rosedale Lane, Helmsley, appeared at York Crown Court today when he pleaded not guilty to the allegation and the prosecution offered no evidence, stating that expert evidence had shown that he was completely innocent.

Prosecutor Stephen Grattage said that expert evidence had shown that the fire had been caused accidentally by people flicking cigarette ends near the pub, which is owned by North Yorkshire businessman and chef Andrew Pern.

He said the fire would have started when flames from a metal candle bucket underneath a bench next to the pub caught cigarette ends which had been discarded around the bench. The resulting fire then caught some dry or dying ivy and spread up the wall of the pub onto the thatch.

A trial had been scheduled for July next year, but Mr Grattage said the notion that Mr Birkett had somehow inserted a lit cigarette into the thatch of the pub had been debunked.

The prosecution no longer wanted a trial because they concurred with the defence assertion that an accident had caused the fire to spread above the front door of the pub outside the bar area.

Defence barrister Sophie Cartwright KC said that the accusation levelled at Mr Birkett had caused him and his wider family “considerable distress”.

An expert’s report had resulted in there now being a “complete acceptance that Mr Birkett was not the ignition source of the fire”.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he would be recording a not-guilty verdict and commended Mr Birkett’s defence team for producing “such a detailed and thoroughly convincing report” which had exonerated the defendant.

He told Mr Birkett: “This was an accidental fire by people dropping cigarettes into a metal candle bucket.

“The candle flame descended onto cigarette ends (and) they caught fire. It caught the dry ivy behind the green ivy and crept up the wall into the thatch.

“There was even a perfectly round burn mark found on the bench under which the candle had been sitting, indicating that the candleholder had got hot.

“You were not to blame for this; you were perfectly innocent, and you leave this court without a stain on your character.”