I loved my sisters, says accused

Feb 12 2008 by Sam Wonfor, The Journal

MURDER accused Shane Spence yesterday told a court he played no part in a devastating blaze which killed his two sisters at the family home.

The 18-year-old said he had been briefly inside the house in Lisle Road, South Shields, on the night of the fire to collect a CD.

But he told the jury at Newcastle Crown Court that he loved his sisters Tatum, 14 and Demi-Jade, 12, and had nothing to do with the blaze which claimed their lives.

Giving evidence, Spence said that on the night of the tragedy, he left the house to visit a neighbour Stephanie Tate.

He said there had been no arguments with members of his family.

He was later stopped in the street by police and it was only when he was taken to hospital to see his mother that he learned his sisters had died.

“I didn’t want to believe it,” he said.

The teenager denies murdering Tatum and Demi-Jade, who were both asleep in bed at the time of the blaze early on April 4 last year.

He also denies the attempted murder of his parents John Spence and Anita, both 37.

The trial continues today.