Former Bradford chairman linked to fire claims

The chairman of Bradford City Football Club at the time of the Valley Parade stadium fire that killed 56 people in 1985 has been linked to eight other fires and insurance claims resulting in multi-million pound payouts, according to a new book written by a survivor of the blaze.

The claims, made by Martin Fletcher, are contained in a new book, Fifty-Six – The Story of the Bradford Fire, which is being serialised in the Guardian newspaper. 

Mr Fletcher was 12 when he lost his brother, father, uncle and grandfather in the fire.

Mr Fletcher says he never believed that the fire was an accident, and, without making any direct allegations against then-chairman Stafford Heginbotham, asks: "Could any man really be as unlucky as Heginbotham had been?"

An inquiry held shortly after the 11 May fire found the blaze was likely caused by a discarded match, cigarette or pipe tobacco lighting up rubbish that had built up under the wooden stand over a 20-year-period – a conclusion Mr Fletcher does not accept.

The author, after years of research, claims he has been able to link eight fires at businesses connected to Heginbotham, who died aged 61 in 1995.

No-one was prosecuted for the fire, but the coroner for the disaster said he had given serious consideration to bringing a charge of manslaughter after it emerged that the club had received three separate warnings about potential fire hazards. 

Mr Fletcher claims that at the time of the fire Bradford needed £2million to refurbish the ground to the required standards, and Heginbotham was in financial difficulty. 

Mr Fletcher is the only survivor to publicly challenge the official report.

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