Family 'ripped apart' after grandson killed his gran in city house fire

Chanatorn Croghan, 21, formerly of Northside in Norwich, admitted starting the blaze that killed 89-year-old Vera Croghan in her Unthank Road property on December 11, 2020 and has now been given a hospital order.

On Friday (October 14) he appeared for sentence at Norwich Crown Court after pleading guilty to arson and manslaughter due to diminished responsibility in February this year.

Croghan, who has since been diagnosed with hebrephrenic schizophrenia, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act.

A restriction order under Section 41has also been issued which would require the Secretary of State to authorise his release.

Police on the scene of a fatal house fire on Unthank Road in which Vera Croghan died (Image: Archant)

Before Croghan was sentenced the court heard impact statements from Mrs Croghan's three sons and a daughter which laid bare the extent to which the family has been torn apart since Mrs Croghan's death.

Forensic officers at the property on Unthank Road, Norwich where Vera Croghan died (Image: East Anglia News Service)

Mike Croghan told the court his mother's death has caused "seismic ripples that have ripped our family apart" which his mother "would've hated".

Vera Croghan (Image: Croghan family)

He said it was "no secret" Chanatorn "hated his father" and insisted his mother was "merely collateral damage".

He insisted his mother "should not have been put in the firing line".

He said: "Chanatorn stole our mother from us and for that I will never forgive him or his father."

Another son, Richard, said he was still “in shock” at the death of his "wonderful mother".

He said: "Not only have I lost my mother - I've also lost my son."

Mr Croghan said he has not yet come to terms "with her death and how it happened".

The victim's only daughter, Karin, said her mother was a "much loved, frail, elderly lady who loved her house and her family".

Police at the property on Unthank Road, Norwich where Vera Croghan died (Image: Archant)

She said her mother was a "deeply loved and remarkable lady" who "didn't deserve to die at this time or in this way".

Another son, James Croghan, said he has suffered "nightmares" since the death of his mother which has resulted in the "implosion of my family".

He said: "She was not just taken away from us, she suffered an unspeakably horrific death."

Sentencing Croghan, Judge Anthony Bate said Mrs Croghan "died through the inhalation of fumes, especially carbon monoxide and had she had surface burns to her arms, hands and face".

He said: "The culprit for that wicked act was Vera's grandson."

He described Croghan as a "troubled young man" who was suffering from "abnormality of mental functioning" as well as a "psychotic disorder" at the time of the offence.

The house on Unthank Road where Vera Croghan lived. Picture: Danielle Booden (Image: Archant 2020)

The sentencing had been adjourned as Croghan subsequently attacked two prison officers while on remand at Norwich Prison on March and April this year.

Norwich Prison where Chanatorn Croghan attacked two prison officers earlier this year (Image: Archant)

Will Carter, prosecuting, said Croghan came to the UK from Thailand in 2016 or 2017.

He went to Wymondham College and stayed with his grandmother at Unthank Road but his behaviour was “difficult” and he later returned to Thailand.

He later studied at Reading University and then Manchester University.

Mr Carter said he was something of a recluse, "socially awkward" and used cocaine and cannabis.

He said Croghan was "spiralling out of control" and turned up at his grandmother's home on December 9, 2020.

During the stay Croghan went to his father to ask for his phone and his charger so he could call his mother but when told to use his own, Croghan looked at him with "hatred" in his eyes.

Police were called but left having decided no offences had been committed.

Mr Croghan went to stay at his partner's address leaving his son and mother, who was asleep, behind.

He turned on his phone about 9am on December 11 to receive a notification that the smoke alarm at his mother's house had gone off at 4.50am although fire crews had already been alerted.

Mrs Croghan's body was found on the floor of her bedroom.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Croghan returned to the address at about 3.20pm and was arrested.

He was found to be "acutely mentally unwell" and sectioned under the mental health act.

Jennifer Dempster KC, for Croghan, said this is a defendant who has expressed "genuine remorse" for what happened and at the time was "deeply mentally unwell" and "also psychotic"