FOLLOWING a hearing at Reading Crown Court which concluded on Friday, October 7, Hakeem Kigundu, aged 32, formerly of Rowe Court, Reading, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
He has been given a whole life sentence with no minimum term, after being charged with two counts of murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, and one count of arson with intent to endanger life.
A whole life imprisonment term with no minimum sentence is the most severe sentence that can be given in the UK, meaning that Kigundu will not be released.
On Wednesday, December 15, 2021, Kigundu started a fire at the block of flats, where he had been a resident, which then spread, causing major damage and trapping residents inside.
Two of the residents, Richard Burgess, aged 46, and Neil Morris, aged 45, were killed as a result of the fire, and two further residents were seriously injured.
The families of Richard and Neil paid tribute to them today, and Joel Richards, one of the burn victims of the arson, has said that the incident left him “scarred, scared, nervous, and not wanting to live.”
It was declared a major incident and required a large emergency service presence in response.
CCTV footage and details of a 999 call made by Kigundu himself were seen in court during the hearing, showing him confessing to arson to the call handler shortly before being arrested.
Kigundu also made a series of audio notes before the incident, saying in one of them, dated December 9, that he believed the actions he was about to take were “warranted.”
Footage of Kigundu filling fuel cans at a number of petrol stations around Reading was also shown.
Detective Inspector Sally Spencer, who was the senior investigating officer, said: “Since this happened on the 15th of December, there’s been an awful lot of people affected by this.
“The family and friends of Neil and Richard, along with people that were injured as a result of being captured within the fire.
“But also everybody that lived within the flats at Rowe Court, all 24 flats, have lost their homes and their possessions and the wider community surrounding.”
The nature of the incident meant that Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service had to undertake works to secure the site of the incident before rescue and recovery works could continue.
An initial RBFRS assessment said that “gaining safe access could take quite some time due to the deterioration in the structure of the building.”
Recovery efforts took nearly three months, and concluded in March 2022.
DI Spencer said that the lengthy police efforts in response to the incident: “had a massive impact on people’s lives.”
“There has been a lot of support from people in the community that weren’t directly affected or live at Rowe Court.
“Engagement with the community and any information that they can discuss with us or wish to provide us really helps.
“Whether that’s witnessing a crime or reporting antisocial behaviour or anything that they’re concerned about or providing CCTV, we can’t do anything without them – we cannot take cases to court unless we have the public’s support.”
DI Spencer said that the police investigation had established that Mr Kigundu had acted on animosity created by reasonable complaints from residents at Rowe Court.
She said that while he was living there, he was: “causing antisocial behaviour within the block of flats including noise disturbance.
“Residents had complained about that, politely asking him to not disturb them through the early hours of the morning and the night.
“So I believe that these events have triggered animosity with the occupants of Rowe Court, and he’s then gone on to commit this crime.
“There is nothing that those at Rowe Court could have done to prevent this – this is a man intent on causing fire in a block of flats with intent to kill people.”
Mr Kigundu pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of grievous harm, and one count of arson with intent to endanger life.
“That Mr Kigundu has pleaded guilty to all offences shows the strength of our evidence and the case that we have presented and that justice will be done.
“And hopefully this will give everybody involved some form of closure to be able to move on with their lives.
“Our thoughts remain with everybody affected, but particularly with the family and friends of Neil and Richard.”
