Delroy Watson inquest: Haverhill house fire cause 'probably electrical'

An inquest has heard a retired policeman called out "help me, help me" before he died in a fire at home.

Delroy Watson, 48, was killed at his house in Haverhill in Suffolk in March.

Neighbours tried and failed to rescue Mr Watson, who had multiple sclerosis (MS), from the third floor of the building on Bellings Road.

The court heard the fire was not suspicious and the coroner in Bury St Edmunds recorded a narrative verdict of death by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Mr Watson, a retired detective constable with the Metropolitan Police, was caught in the fire which also spread to the roof of a neighbouring house in the early hours of Thursday 19 March.

Yvonne Blake, assistant Suffolk coroner, read out witness statements at the inquest.

The court heard Mr Watson's wife Rachel had given birth to a son a few months before the fire and had been living with her parents in Walthamstow, east London when her husband died.

Mr Watson had been diagnosed with MS in 2013 and had been depressed, but had plans to visit his wife and son again.

A statement from Rachel Watson said her husband was a smoker and was known to burn incense, but the coroner told the court the cause of the fire was accidental and probably an electrical fault.

The court heard some neighbours had broken in but could not rescue Mr Watson because the smoke was too thick, while another said she had heard bangs and a voice calling out "help me, help me".

The coroner's narrative conclusion was that Mr Watson "died in a house fire as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning".