Pub arson man killed accomplice

by MA Reporter

A pub owner has been convicted of killing his accomplice when he set fire to the premises in a bid to clear large debts.

Last Thursday, a jury at Maidstone Crown Court decided that Keith Willoughby was responsible for the death of Derek Drury when the pair set fire to the Old Locomotive in Canterbury.

Willoughby was convicted of manslaughter and arson.

Drury, a 40-year-old taxi driver, died as petrol vapours caused a massive explosion.

His body was recovered from the rubble two days later.

The court heard during the 13-day trial that Willoughby owed £200,000 to the Kent Reliance Building Society and £47,000 to Shepherd Neame brewery at the time he hired Drury to help him set fire to the run-down pub.

He had bought the Victorian building in 1987 and re-mortgaged it for £175,000 in 1990.

The pub ceased trading in 2000 and remained empty for some time.

Willoughby had been trying to sell it for housing development but could not obtain the necessary planning permission because it was in a conservation area.

Film from CCTV cameras showed Drury driving his Mondeo taxi to a car park next to the pub on 18 August last year.

A petrol can was found in the boot after the fire that evening.

Michael O'Sullivan, prosecuting, said the two men went to the pub, spread petrol around and set fire to it.

The court heard how fumes from the petrol built up, result-ing in an explosion.

Drury ­ known as "Bin" or "Bindy" ­ was close to the entrance at the time of the blast.

Willoughby, who was found outside the pub covered in blood, told a witness he had been checking for squatters.

Willoughby will be sentenced on 21 January.

Judge Warwick McKinnon adjourned the case until then for psychiatric reports.

He said he did not believe that Willoughby was a pyromaniac.

A confiscation hearing will also be held on that date to determine the extent to which he had profited from crime.

The site of the pub was sold for £480,000 on 9 June this year.