One witness to the fatal fire heard a voice say ‘do it then’ before a woman began screaming, a murder trial has heard
16:38, 21 Jan 2026Updated 16:40, 21 Jan 2026
Police at the scene on South John Street in St Helens(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
A man was walking home from the pub when he found his neighbour shouting from the window of her burning house. Eric Greener and Sheila Jackson died aged 77 and 83 respectively after an arson attack at their home on South John Street in St Helens, of which they were “not the intended victims”.
Two men and a woman, Kevin Weetman, Lee Owens and Kylie Maynard, have gone on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of their murders. However, one of the men who was “responsible for setting fire to the house”, Paul Smith, has also since died.
Owens, aged 46 and of no fixed address, has admitted to his involvement in starting the blaze but “says that he only intended to damage the building”. Weetman, aged 34 and of Croxteth Drive in Aigburth, and 37-year-old Maynard, of Rydal Street in Everton, meanwhile “deny that they had anything to do with the setting of the fire”, having apparently “attempted to trick” Ms Jackson’s son into working for them as drug dealer.
Nigel Power KC told a jury of six men and six women during the prosecution’s opening today, Wednesday: “At about just after half past midnight on Tuesday the 15th of July last year, Paul Smith and Lee Owens, set fire to a house, 44 South John Street in St Helens. Inside the address at that time were Mary Sheila Jackson, known to all as Sheila, and her partner Peter Eric Greener, known to everybody as Eric.
“Of course, the alarm went up. Firefighters and paramedics went to the scene. They were able to rescue Eric and Sheila from the blaze, but they were unable to recover from the injuries they sustained in the fire and died within days. Whilst it does not matter in law, Eric and Sheila were not the intended victims of the blaze.
“About a month earlier, Kevin Weetman and Kylie Maynard had attempted to trick George Jackson, Sheila’s son, into working for Mr Weetman as a drug dealer. Mr Jackson had helped out Ms Maynard when she had been robbed of drugs, sometimes called a taxing, by some other people.
“He had taken her home, his home being the same as Sheila and Eric. He had allowed her to wash, eat and sleep and stay there. She knew exactly where he lived, and who he lived with.
“A few days later, Mr Weetman gave Mr Jackson half an ounce of cocaine, wholesale worth between £400 and £700, but, on an individual wrap basis, because that’s how George Jackson took his drugs, quite a lot more. Initially, Mr Weetman said it was a gift for helping out Ms Maynard.
“But he offered Mr Jackson the chance to deal drugs for him. Mr Jackson declined the offer and thought nothing of it until some time later, when Mr Weetman again contacted him and asked him to work for him.
“And when Mr Jackson declined once more, the mood changed. What had been a gift or reward ceased to be so, and Mr Weetman started asking where his ‘dough’ was for the drugs.
“Whilst there was, on the face of it, no threat made, the crown say that Mr Weetman decided to take action to prevent a loss of face. Face is all important in the drugs world, and he set in motion a plan to kill, or at least cause really serious harm to, George Jackson by setting fire to his house in the middle of the night. Whilst Paul Smith and Lee Owens failed to kill Mr Jackson, the fire they set caused the deaths of Eric and Shelia.
“Paul Smith and Lee Owens were the people responsible for setting fire to the house. What is also not in issue is that Kevin Weetman and Kylie Maynard, together, were involved in dealing drugs.
“Why isn’t Paul Smith in the dock? Well, he died shortly after the fire, but no one in the case disputes that he was one of the two people who went on a motorbike to set fire to the house.
“What is in issue is that Lee Owens says that he only intended damage to the building from the fire and nothing else. Kevin Weetman and Kylie Maynard deny that they had anything to do with the setting of the fire and the deaths of Eric and Sheila.”
Jurors heard that Sheila and Eric had lived at the end of terrace house “for a long time”, with “people who knew them having never known them to have any disputes with anyone”. However, at around 12.30am on the date in question, one neighbour heard a voice shouting “do it then” before hearing “female high pitched screams” around 10 seconds later.
Another resident, Nathaniel Jolley, had spent the evening at the Lamb pub in St Helens town centre and, as he was returning home, saw a motorbike “taking off towards KFC with two lads on, both of who had their hoods up”. He then found Mr Greener and Ms Jackson’s address on fire, with Mr Power continuing: “He looked up and saw Sheila Jackson shouting out of the front top window. He ran into his house, filled his bin with water and tried to put the fire on the front door out, but to no avail.”
Ms Jackson meanwhile called the emergency services herself at 12.34am. Mr Power said of this: “In that call, Sheila Jackson repeated that she couldn’t breathe before all the call handler could hear was shouting and screaming.”
Several engines were dispatched to the scene as a result, with firefighters finding the house “full of thick black smoke”. Members of the family in the public gallery were seen in tears as they heard how Ms Jackson was found unresponsive on the floor at the foot of her bed, “letting out a gasp of air” as she was picked up by her rescuers.
The pensioner was then laid down on the grass outside as her son arrived home shouting “mum”. Having been informed Mr Greener was also likely to be inside, officers found him sitting in a chair in the living room.
Mr Power said: “His eyes were open and he appeared conscious. They carried him out of the property and laid him down on the grass.”
Both were subsequently taken to Whiston Hospital, but Mr Greener was pronounced dead on the evening of July 16. Ms Jackson then died the following morning, with post mortem investigations concluding that the causes of death in both cases were due to “burns and smoke inhalation”.
It was meanwhile determined that the fire had been “set by a naked flame being applied to ignitable liquid which had been put on the front door of the property”. Mr Power added: “The fire was able to grow rapidly and spread to the top of the lounge door and the mobility scooter inside the house. Once the fire started, the front door made of UPVC and other synthetic materials nearby would have produced toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and other asphyxiants, corrosives and irritants.
“They would have rendered Ms Jackson unconscious as they travelled up to the first floor and into her bedroom. It looked as if Eric Greener may have attempted to extinguish the fire before he was overcome by the heat and the toxic gases, forcing him back into the lounge.”
Weetman, Owens and Maynard all deny murder. The trial, before Mr Justice Jay, continues, and is expected to last up to six weeks.