Man and woman arrested over house fire killing couple and two children

Summarised from 5 outlets · Updated 15 Oct, 16:03 · Archive

Two people have been arrested following a suspected arson attack on a home in Waterford that killed two adults and two children.

A man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s have been arrested by Irish police in connection with a suspected arson attack that killed four members of the English family in Waterford early on Tuesday morning.

Philip and Kim English, and two of their children, 12-year-old Callum and nine-year-old Jayden, died when fire broke out at their home on Birch Avenue, on the outskirts of Waterford city centre. Two other children in the house at the time, a 14-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy, were taken to hospital in Dublin where they remain in critical condition.

Waterford Fire Service received an alert at 5.13am on Tuesday and crews from several nearby stations were dispatched to the scene. Firefighters extracted the family from the house before the fire was extinguished. Post mortems have been carried out on the four deceased, but results are not being released for what police describe as "operational reasons".

The arrests were confirmed on Thursday afternoon. Both suspects are being held in a Garda station in the east of the Republic of Ireland. They have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating a criminal organisation, according to the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail reports that police believe a Traveller gang leader may have ordered the deadly attack. According to that outlet, Philip's son from a previous marriage, John James English, revealed that gangland figures in the city had terrorised the family for years over a £17,000 drug debt owed by someone known to the family. Only three weeks before the fatal attack, the family car had been targeted with a petrol bomb, with no injuries reported. The Daily Mail also reports that the home of Philip's ex-wife Anne was previously targeted in another petrol bomb attack.

Gardaí have appealed for anybody with information on the "murderous attack" to come forward and have also requested dash cam footage from the area.

How it is being reported

• Waterford 'arson attack': Two arrests after couple and 2 children killed in fireA man and a woman have been arrested as part of the investigation into the suspected arson attack on a home in Waterford County, Ireland, which killed four peopleThe Mirror · 15 Oct, 15:55
• Arrests made after couple and two children killed in arson attack in WaterfordGardaí (Irish police) have arrested a man and a woman in connection with a suspected arson attack which killed four family members.BBC News · 15 Oct, 15:33
• Man and woman arrested after two children among four dead in Ireland house fireTwo people have been arrested following the death of two adults and two children in a house fire in Ireland. A man and a woman have been arrested after a blaze broke out in a two-story property on Birchwood Avenue, Waterford City on Tuesday morning. Philip and Kim English and their two children, Callum, 12 and Jayden, nine, died in the fire. Two more children with critical injuries were taken to hospital in Dublin. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say On Thursday, a man in his 20s and a woman in his 30s were arrested as part of a murder investigation into the blaze. Police believe the fire was…GB News · 15 Oct, 15:24
• Man and woman are arrested over arson attack that killed Irish couple and two of their childrenA man and woman have been arrested by Irish police investigating the murder of a mother, father and their two children following an arson attack on their home.Daily Mail · 15 Oct, 15:22
• Man and woman arrested after two adults and two children killed in house fireTwo people have been arrested over the deaths of two adults and two children in a suspected arson attack on a house in Ireland.Sky News · 14 Oct, 06:18

In this story: Philip English · Kim English · Callum English · Jayden English · Waterford · Gardaí · Birch Avenue

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem