Builder, 28, wakes after three months in coma to be told he blew the ROOF of home in huge explosion while trying to create giant firework by combing two smaller ones
- Paul Carr, then 25, lost right hand in devastating explosion in Anfield, Liverpool
- Initially said he was ‘grinding industrial fireworks to be turned into gunpowder’
- Later admitted he was combining explosives to create a more-spectacular blast
- Carr plead guilty to causing explosion likely to endanger life or damage property
- Sentenced to 20 months in jail, suspended for 2 years in Liverpool Crown Court
Paul Carr (pictured leaving court), then 25, lost his right hand and the index finger and thumb on his left in the devastating explosion in Anfield, Liverpool
A builder woke up from an induced coma to be told he blew the roof off his family home after accidentally setting off ‘industrial-strength fireworks’ in his bedroom.
Paul Carr, then 25, lost his right hand and the index finger and thumb on his left in the devastating explosion in Anfield, Liverpool.
He initially told paramedics he was ‘grinding industrial fireworks to be turned into gunpowder’ using a blender – but later admitted he was combining two explosives to create a more-spectacular blast ahead of Bonfire Night.
Carr’s mother and eight-year-old cousin were downstairs at the time of the explosion in 2017, and were rushed to hospital for smoke inhalation – but suffered no long-term injuries.
Carr, now 28, was put into an induced coma and wasn’t fit to be interviewed until three months later when he claimed to have no memory of the events.
Carr plead guilty to causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property and was sentenced to 20 months in jail, suspended for two years.
He was working full-time at a Manchester building site at the time.
The house – situated ‘in the shadow of Anfield Football Stadium’ – was rented by Carr’s mother, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Other family members lived there, but at the time of the blast only Carr, his mother and young cousin were home.
Shortly after 5pm on September 12, 2017, a neighbour heard a loud ‘boom’ followed by a crashing sound as his kitchen wall clock fell to the floor.
He rushed outside and saw ‘flames and black smoke billowing from the roof’ of the house – as frantic residents shouted for the family to flee.
Jonathan Duffy, prosecuting, said: ‘It wasn’t long before the emergency services, fire service, police and ambulance all arrived at the scene and were confronted with a huge fire.
Carr, then 25, lost his right hand and the index finger and thumb on his left in the devastating explosion (the aftermath, pictured) in Anfield, Liverpool
‘They saw that a property had been extensively damaged, the roof had fallen in and it was ablaze.’
Carr’s cousin and mother were taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation but suffered no lasting injuries.
The explosion originated in Carr’s room, it was later discovered.
Mr Duffy said: ‘While inside the confines of his bedroom, the defendant tampered with industrial strength fireworks by breaking them open.
‘It is not known precisely what he did, less still why he did what he did.’
Carr told a paramedic ‘he had been grinding industrial fireworks to be turned into gunpowder and had been holding a blender when it blew’.
He was put in an induced coma and wasn’t fit to be interviewed until three months later when he told officers he had no memory of the events.
He initially told paramedics he was ‘grinding industrial fireworks to be turned into gunpowder’ – but later admitted he was combining two explosives to create a more-spectacular blast ahead of Bonfire Night. Pictured: The aftermath of the explosion
Mr Duffy said Carr endangered lives by tampering with industrial-strength fireworks in such a confined space, which created ‘an obvious risk’.
He said: ‘It is the prosecution’s case that even though he recognised this risk, he nevertheless went on to act as he did. His actions in doing so were reckless.
‘There is no evidence to suggest that the defendant bore any ill will towards his family, or that he deliberately caused the explosion with intent to injure anyone or destroy the property.’
Carr initially denied causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property and was set to stand trial last March.
The trial was relisted for January because of the coronavirus pandemic and a week beforehand he changed his plea to guilty.
Mr Duffy said the now 28-year-old had five previous convictions for nine offences, none of which were directly relevant.
He said the landlord of the property – who provided a character reference for Carr – didn’t wish to apply for compensation.
Christopher Stables, defending, said: ‘The defendant accepts just before the incident he had the fireworks out from under his bed and was tampering with two of them in an effort to combine them into a single firework to enhance the effect when set off, this being shortly before Bonfire Night in 2017.
‘He accepts of course that his actions must have triggered the explosion.’
Mr Stables said the matter had been hanging over Carr’s head for more than three years and he ‘hasn’t put a foot wrong since’.
Carr plead guilty to causing an explosion (the aftermath, pictured) likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property and was sentenced to 20 months in jail, suspended for two years
He said: ‘It’s an unusual case in the sense that the defendant is in reality both the defendant and the victim in this case.
‘He suffered extremely serious physical injuries in the blast.’
Mr Stables said his injuries also included burns to his chest, both arms and his legs – for which Carr required skin grafts.
He said his client sustained a serious head injury, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder and bouts of depression.
Mr Stables said: ‘He very rarely leaves the house unless he absolutely has to.’
Judge Denis Watson, QC, said: ‘For reasons which are hard to fathom you decided to meddle with some large display of industrial fireworks.
‘It seems your intention was to make a larger one for a more spectacular effect.
‘From what you said to the paramedics, you were in the process of dismantling one or two fireworks, using some sort of blender or grinder to do so.’
The judge said the risks of fireworks were ‘obvious’ because ‘explosions even from a distance are significant’.
He said: ‘You blew off the roof of your parent’s home and of course there were members of your family at home.’
The judge added: ‘You risked injury to and the life of your parents, family and neighbours and caused serious injury to yourself.’
However, Judge Watson said not only was it an ‘unintentional explosion’, but ‘it was never intended that this should be detonated in a way to cause harm to anybody, or cause damage to anything’.
He said: ‘Everybody else, the landlord, your family and neighbours all appear to have accepted this was unintentional.’
Judge Watson handed Carr a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years, with a 20-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.
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