Prient's pipe may have caused fire

IT was likely a Peacehaven priest attempted to fight the blaze which killed him, an inquest heard.

Gwnendiran Patrick Stanislaus Emmanuel, 49, known to his parishioners as Father Pat, died at the vicarage of the Church to the Immaculate Conception in Horsham Avenue, Peacehaven, on April 12.

Emergency services were called to the fire just before 2am when neighbours saw flames.

At an inquest at Eastbourne Magistrates Court, on Tuesday, a Home Office pathologist s report gave the cause of death as smoke inhalation.

A police report read by coroner Alan Craze told how the priest was found collapsed on the first floor, between the bedroom and office, next to an unused fire extinguisher. It was speculated he tried to use it to fight the fire but was overcome by the fumes. Police found no sign of forced entry or foul play.

Father Emmanuel, a pipe smoker, often worked late into the night in his office.

David Berry, who lives next-door-but-one to the presbytery, was one of the first on the scene.

He said: I looked out of the window and saw fire coming from the roof, it was quite a small fire at the time.

There was crackling and tiles exploding off the roof into my garden.

He dialled 999 and rushed outside to join the crowd gathering outside the priest s home. When I phoned for the fire brigade it a was very, very small fire, he added.

But the fire spread as people waited. By the time they did come it had started to go along the roof and become a major fire.

Mr Berry added: A neighbour and myself did try to go and see if the door was open and go in, but the door was locked.

Mr Berry claimed it took 40 minutes for fire engines to arrive at the blaze. If it had been 15 minutes it would not have been such a tragedy.

However, Fire Investigator Sarah Griffith told the inquest the 999 call was received at 1.58am and the first firefighter on the scene by 2.12am. The priest s body was removed by 2.24am.

She said it was impossible to pinpoint the exact cause of the fire. But it was most likely caused by a discarded plug of tobacco from a pipe or an angle-poise lamp coming into contact with piles of paper in the office. An electrical fault was unlikely.

Father John Hull, a colleague of Father Emmanuel, said he was seldom without his pipe. He would almost chew on his pipe as he held forth, he said.

The coroner said: This tragic death was caused by an accident that took place some how in the early hours of the morning in Father Pat s house.

The tragedy had profoundly affected a lot of people, not least Father Pat s family back in Sri-Lanka, he added.

The verdict: Accidental death.

Father Emmanuel came to the UK from Sri Lanka, where he was persecuted for his Catholic beliefs, 15 years ago. After lecturing in the Midlands he came to Peacehaven two years ago.