Kevin Weetman was seen in Jack Wolfskin the day after giving the orders for a fire which caused the deaths of an elderly couple’Big I Am’ shopped at Cheshire Oaks with ‘big wad’ of cash after killing pensioners
A drug dealer went shopping at Cheshire Oaks with a “big wad” of cash the day after he killed two pensioners in a house fire. Eric Greener, 77, and Sheila Jackson, 83, died following an arson attack at their home on South John Street in St Helens on July 15 last year.
While one of the men responsible for the blaze, Paul Smith, was found dead himself only a week later, Kevin Weetman, Kylie Maynard and Lee Owens have been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of murdering the pensioners. The latter admitted having acted as a lookout as the fire was set, although his co-defendants denied having any involvement in the plot.
With Sheila’s son George Jackson, who also lived at the address, was said to have been the intended victim in a row over drugs, Owens instead claimed Smith had torched the house as a result of a personal dispute between the two men. This was said to have related to his belief his target had “taken the p***” when Maynard, who the arsonist had reportedly been involved with sexually, had stayed at his house after being “taxed” of cocaine and money.
Although Owens pleaded guilty to manslaughter in advance of the trial, he maintained he believed the property was empty at the time of the incident and claimed he did not intend to injure or kill. He, Maynard and Weetman were all cleared of two counts of murder by a jury of six men and six women earlier this week, although the latter two were unanimously convicted of manslaughter.
Returning to the same court for sentence today, Thursday, Weetman was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years behind bars. Maynard meanwhile received 23 years and Owens was jailed for 13-and-a-half years, with both required to serve two thirds of their terms behind bars before they can be released.
Sentencing, High Court judge Mr Justice Jay told Weetman: “In your sordid and brutal way, you have been a successful drug dealer over many years. You exert your rule with fists and iron bars. You have an appalling criminal record.
“You are a man with an entirely warped moral code. You feel no remorse for what you did. After the verdict, you smiled and laughed inappropriately in full sight of the victims’ family.
“The issue of your intent is not straightforward. The lies you told during the trial have added to the difficulty. I infer that your intention was to burn out George Jackson as a punishment for him not doing your bidding.
“I cannot be sure that it was your aim to cause at least serious harm. You knew that two elderly people were almost certainly in bed at the time. I have no doubt that this is an extreme case of you procuring an act which you knew had high risk of death or serious harm. Although I am not satisfied that you had murderous intent, I am sure that this is also an extreme case of an intention falling just short of that.
“This arson was entirely your idea. You initiated Paul Smith into committing it, having brutally assaulted him. You knew that Kyle Maynard would act as your loyal subordinate in making the arrangements. I do not conclude that you anticipated that Paul Smith would recruit Lee Owens to this enterprise but, through your malevolence, you involved two others, Paul Smith and Kylie Maynard, in this wicked scheme.
“That you were prepared to use arson as a weapon against George Jackson when, on any view, he had done you no wrong demonstrates that you are a risk to the public by virtue of committing further specified offences. These two manslaughter offences are of the highest degree of seriousness.
“In my judgement, you are an extremely violent and dangerous individual. No reliable assessment can be made as to the length of time that you will still be a danger to the public. It is possible that prison will soften and reform you. It is more likely that you will remain a danger for the rest of your life, at least until your old age.”
Weetman smiled as he was told he would received a life imprisonment, with cries of “yes” heard among Eric and Sheila’s family and one man seen giving him two thumbs down. Another then told him as he was led to the cells: “I bet you’re not laughing now Weetman.”
However, Weetman responded “I’m always laughing”. When another man added “see you rat”, the killer went on to reply: “Wool.”
Kevin Weetman was found guilty of the manslaughter of Eric Greener and Sheila Jackson(Image: Merseyside Police)
Following the sentencing, Merseyside Police has now released CCTV footage of Weetman shopping at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet in the early evening of July 16 2025, the fatal fire having been started on his orders in the early hours of the previous day. Jurors were told during the trial that he was driven to the shopping outlet by his partner in an Audi via the Wallasey Tunnel before being captured on camera making a purchase in cash at Jack Wolfskin.
Referencing a “handful of £20 notes” seen in his possession at this stage, his counsel Peter Wright KC asked whether dealing drugs had been a “profitable” enterprise. Weetman replied: “So so.”
Nigel Power KC, prosecuting, later branded him as being “the Big I Am with the big wad”. However, the 34-year-old of Croxteth Drive in Aigburth, replied of his appearance on the camera: “£200 I had.”
Mr Power previously told the jury during the prosecution’s opening last month: “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.
“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.
“While 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.
Kylie Maynard was found guilty of the manslaughter of Eric Greener and Sheila Jackson(Image: Merseyside Police)
“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, quite a lot more. Initially, Mr Weetman said that 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.
“While 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 night. Whilst Paul Smith and Lee Owens failed to kill Mr Jackson, the fire that 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.
Lee Owens admitted the manslaughter of Eric Greener and Sheila Jackson(Image: Merseyside Police)
“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.”