Reading flats fire: Rowe Court flats set to be rebuilt

A block of flats devastated by an arson attack that killed two men is set to be rebuilt under new plans.

Evicted tenant Hakeem Kigundu, 32, set the blaze in Rowe Court, Reading, on 15 December last year.

He was jailed for life in October after pleading guilty to the murders of Richard Burgess, 46, and Neil Morris, 45, who died in the fire.

Following the blaze, a structural assessment concluded the vast majority of the building was unsalvageable.

The remains of the structure were demolished by the police and the occupants put into temporary accommodation.

Under the new proposal, submitted to Reading Borough Council, the 24 studio and one-bedroom flats would be reinstated to provide "leaseholders with their lost homes".

The application comes after pre-application advice from the council.

During a sentencing hearing in October, Reading Crown Court heard Kigundu had regularly made his neighbours' lives a misery by slamming doors and having his music and TV on full volume all night.

This led to him being served with an eviction notice shortly after he lost his job as a BT engineer because of his "erratic behaviour in the workplace".

The Ugandan national, who entered the UK illegally, recorded a voice note six days before the attack in which he appeared to suggest his neighbours deserved to die.

He bought 50 litres of petrol from three different fuel stations around Reading that he went on to splash around the communal areas of the building he had been living in.

As residents desperately tried to escape the burning building, Kigundu drove to Reading police station where he confessed, claiming he had been "full of fury" but now regretted his actions.

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