"The book, serialised by the Guardian today and tomorrow, reveals there had been at least eight other fires at business premises either owned by, or connected to, Stafford Heginbotham, Bradford’s then-chairman, in the previous 18 years, resulting in huge insurance claims. Fletcher does not make any direct allegations but he does believe Heginbotham’s history with fires, resulting in payouts of around £27m in today’s terms, warranted further investigation. “Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?" he asks.
The disaster at Valley Parade came at a time, according to Fletcher’s evidence, when the businessman was in desperate financial trouble, unable to pay his workforce beyond that month. Heginbotham had learned two days before the fire it would cost £2m to bring the ground up to safety standards required by Bradford’s promotion from the old Third Division that season. Yet this has never been reported and did not feature in the Popplewell Inquiry, chaired by the then high court judge Oliver Popplewell, which held its investigation only three weeks after the fire...
...1) May 1967: fire in Stafford Heginbotham’s factory at three-storey Cutler Heights Lane, Bradford
2) April 1968: fire at Genefoam Ltd, managing director Stafford Heginbotham, Cutler Heights Lane
3) August 1970: store-room explosion at Matgoods, founded by Heginbotham, in Wyke, Bradford
4) December 1971: tenant fire at Castle Mills building, Cleckheaton, owned by Heginbotham
5) August 1977: fire at Yorkshire Knitting Mills, in Heginbotham-owned Douglas Mills building, Bradford
6) December 1977: fire at four-story Coronet Marketing factory, Leeds Road, Bradford. Coronet Marketing a subsidiary of Tebro Toys, owned by Heginbotham
7) November 1977: fire with toxic fumes at Douglas Mills factory
8) June 1981: fire in plastics factory at Heginbotham-owned Douglas Mills..."
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/15/bradford-fire-stafford-heginbotham-martin-fletcher
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Not sure what to think about that. One hell of a coincidence.
Bradford City Fire
posted on 15/4/15
I don't know what could be proven now, Eric. Not that I know much about this sort of thing. Not without witnesses, anyroad.
The more I've thought about it, I'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn't be so stupid.
But I think there may have been a case for H&S violations.
Not saying he wasn't complicit in the other fires, though. It does look pretty dodgy.
posted on 15/4/15
Sol
It's the implication.
Not saying it could ever be proven but there would be no harm in looking would there...?
Who is to say there aren't witnesses...?
I'm not saying he was complicit, just wondering how others will look on it. Whether there will be any delving...?
posted on 15/4/15
In today's insurance world his track record on claims and the health & safety violations would have stuck out like a sore thumb.
No matter how abhorrent the thought people stoop to desperate measures when under pressure so who knows what might have been conceived and whether the outcome was considerably worse than might have been expected.
Heard an awful story today about someone whose business partner had been up to no good for some time. The end result, and this has unfolded over the last four weeks, is that two businesses have gone into liquidation, homes have been lost and the innocent party tried to take his own life.
Someone's deliberate illegitimate actions almost led to another man's death. Not the intended outcome....
Let's hope it is re investigated and if necessary action taken where warranted.
posted on 16/4/15
Sol, FFS, Don't give MC ideas, he said he would put the fire back in Leeds belly and take us to the promised land.
I'm worried now.
posted on 16/4/15
this is just nonsense isn't it.
Maybe Mr Fletcher hasn't even all these years not come to terms with his loss, still in the blaming stage of grief or the writings of an angry man and who would blame him, but at a more sinister level, maybe he is trying to cash in on the loss. I would hope not as a lot of innocent Men, Women and Children died that day and do not deserve this as their permanent memorial.
posted on 16/4/15
Mille ................. why is it nonsense?
All the fires listed are on the record - no one is debating them (certainly not in the news article I viewed last night).
Why is it the writings of an angry man? If you had relatives/friends/loved ones in that fire, wouldn't you want to know what had happened?
I'm not saying that anything sinister did happen, but given the evidence this guy has published, it does make you wonder why the authorities at the time didn't unearth this stuff as well?!?!??
posted on 16/4/15
It smacks of incompetence from a bygone era. The exchange of information in the modern era makes for a more transparent and accountable society.
posted on 16/4/15
with the greatest of respect my post on the wolves board may have some relevance
................................
i can remember looking underneath the old wooden waterloo road stand at molineux well before it was closed down and seeing years of rubbish and thinking that a cigarette end could easily start a disaster there
before accusing higginbotham we should remember that standards of stadium safety across the country were unbelievably low in those days.
R.I.P.
the innocent victims of the valley parade fire
posted on 16/4/15
"West Yorkshire police said the force would consider any new evidence concerning the fire. Det Supt Mark Ridley, of the homicide and major inquiry team, said: “The jury at the inquest in 1985 delivered a verdict of misadventure. However, should any evidence come to light which was not available to Her Majesty’s coroner at the original inquest, then we will consider its significance and take appropriate action.”"
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/16/oliver-popplewell-bradford-valley-parade-disaster
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Seems an appropriate response to me.
posted on 16/4/15
Sol
At the end of the day he's right, it will all boil down to one simple test
"..should any evidence come to light..."
My concern here is that it is them that should be looking for the evidence as a result of the comments and suggestions made in the book.