Father tells inquest, he thought son was "calling his bluff"

A petrol-soaked man who died after catching fire when he was shot with a police Taser told an eyewitness it was the weapon that set him alight, an inquest heard.

Andrew Pimlott, 32, insisted it was the police officer's X26 Taser weapon that caused him to turn into a human fireball in his parents' back garden.

Mr Pimlott had poured the fuel over himself and was holding a match when Pc Peter Hodgkinson fired the weapon at him during a domestic incident in Plymouth two years ago.

Pc Hodgkinson told colleagues that he had fired the 50,000-volt weapon at Mr Pimlott to try and stop him setting himself alight on the night of April 18, 2013.

Ambulance technician James Dyson recalled the conversation with Mr Pimlott as he treated him at the scene in Honicknowle, Plymouth.

"He said he had covered himself in petrol over his head and when the Taser was fired it had lit the petrol and clothing that was on him. This was all he remembered," Mr Dyson said.

"He said he had wanted to end it all. Mr Pimlott did not say he had lit himself. He stated the Taser had lit the fuel.

"This information was conflicting to what I had heard from the police."

He added: "He was apologetic and it was almost like he knew he was going to die and wanted to get his statement across.

"He told me 'If I die I want you to pass a message to my mother and family to say that I love them'."

Mr Pimlott, who was unemployed, died in hospital in Bristol five days after the incident.

Plymouth Coroner's Court heard that Mr Pimlott's father, Kelvin, dialled 999 after his son went to their home in breach of a restraining order imposed by magistrates.

He told police he had just seen his son pick up a jerry can of fuel from the garden and thought he was going to set fire to the house.

Pc Hodgkinson and colleague David Beer quickly responded to the emergency call and were there for no more than 41 seconds before Mr Pimlott caught fire.

Neighbours heard screams coming from the garden, saw flames and also watched as the two Pcs wrapped Mr Pimlott in a duvet and sprayed him with a hosepipe to extinguish the flames.

He was taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and later transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where he died on April 23 as a result of severe burns.

Forensic examiners recovered a single match from the garden and a box of matches was found in Mr Pimlott's trouser pocket at hospital. Two Taser barb marks were found on his abdomen.

Home Office pathologist Dr Russell Delaney told the hearing: "It is not possible by examination of the medical evidence to determine if the naked flame or the Taser ignited the fuel.

"The possibility of the Taser causing him to drop the flame resulting in ignition cannot be excluded."

Kelvin Pimlott told the inquest, which is being heard before a jury, that he thought his son was "calling his bluff" when he grabbed the petrol can.

"By the time I put the phone down the police had arrived. The next I heard was my wife shouting 'There's a fire out the back, fire out the back'," he said in a written statement.

"It all happened within three seconds. He must have set fire to himself as the police arrived.

"I never thought Andrew would set fire to himself. I thought he may have been trying to frighten us and call our bluff."

Acting Sergeant Gareth Hammett said he spoke to both Pcs Hodgkinson and Beer at the scene.

"Pc Hodgkinson told me that they had gone to the rear of the garden. Andrew Pimlott had poured petrol over himself and was in possession of a lighter," he said.

"He had deployed Taser against him to stop him from setting fire to himself but there had been an ignition but he did not know what caused the fire."

Pc Philip Parish also spoke Pc Hodgkinson that night because he was concerned for his general welfare.

"There was only a brief significant comment about what actually happened. Pc Hodgkinson said something like 'I can't tell you if he was alight before or after I Tasered him'," he said.

The inquest also heard evidence that Pc Hodgkinson had completed a three-day training course on the Taser and also attended annual refresher sessions.

But officers were warned of the potential dangers of firing a Taser in the presence of flammable liquids, instructor Pc Jonathan Reed said.

The inquest was adjourned until tomorrow.