A two-year-old boy died after a “neighbour from hell” caused a gas explosion by cutting a pipe to sell for scrap metal, a court has heard.

Darren Greenham, 45, used an angle grinder to cut the pipe in the early hours of 16 May in Lancashire last year, prosecutors said.

It caused a huge explosion which killed George Hinds, whose family lived in the neighbouring property in Mallowdale Avenue, Heysham, Preston Crown Court was told.

George’s father Stephen Hinds told the court: “By Darren Greenham cutting a gas pipe to make a few quid I have lost my son, my absolute world.”

He said Greenham, who was dependent on alcohol and drugs, made the lives of his neighbours a “misery” and would play music until the early hours and insult George.

Mr Hinds, who wore a blue Paw Patrol tie and took a Paw Patrol toy into the witness box with him, said: “It makes my blood boil now, I always did the right thing and reported it to the council and the police, nothing was ever done.”

In a statement, George’s mother Vicki Studholme said she felt “unsafe” in her home because of Greenham, a “neighbour from hell” who she said made threats of violence towards her, her husband and their son.

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She said: “I do feel that although we reported this countless times we have been let down by the council and the police, and the death of my beautiful baby boy could have been avoided.”

The court heard that the explosion at 2.36am destroyed the Lancashire County Council-owned property Greenham lived in and severely damaged the two neighbouring terraced houses.

A total of 55 properties in the area were damaged.

Timothy Cray KC, prosecuting, said that at the time of the explosion the council was considering taking eviction proceedings after a number of complaints about Greenham’s behaviour.

The court heard the gas meter in the property had been altered so Greenham could receive gas without paying for it.

A report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the explosion found wooden floorboards had been removed from the first floor landing of the house and gas pipes had been cut deliberately.

The blast was likely to have happened 20 to 40 minutes after they were cut and there would have been a strong smell of gas and an audible noise before that, the report said.

Greenham, who suffered a serious head injury and lost most of the use of his right hand in the blast, pleaded guilty in August to manslaughter, damaging a gas meter and theft of gas.

He will be sentenced on Wednesday.

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