The family of a grandmother killed by a firework sold to a child said they did not feel they had received justice, as the man who knowingly carried out the illegal sale walked free from court.
Former shopkeeper Mark Vardy, 59, of North Road in Westcliff on Sea, Essex, was handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of selling fireworks to an underage boy in 2021.
One of the fireworks was posted through the door of 88-year-old Josephine Smith's home in Queens Park Road, Harold Wood. She died from smoke inhalation as a result.
District Judge Susan Holdham said Mr Vardy and his son Luke, who ran the fireworks shop, had then frustrated the police's investigation into the pensioner's death.
The pair repeatedly failed to hand over damning CCTV in which Mark Vardy laughed and joked with two teenagers, twice selling them fireworks even after they repeatedly stated that they planned to use them as weapons.
Police eventually had to obtain a warrant allowing them to seize the CCTV before it was wiped.
Judge Holdham found the father and son had engaged in "deliberate concealment of the CCTV".
"Perhaps it would be a little unfair to describe it as an obstruction of justice, but it came very close to that," she said.
"It was clear by the actions of both defendants that they didn't want the police check the CCTV and find the audio."
After being sold the fireworks on October 28, 2021, the two teenagers threw them in front of drivers' cars, into an open shop doorway and at houses.
A "mega blast" firework was put through Josephine's letterbox, setting fire to her kitchen as she slept upstairs.
Her family attended Romford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, June 4, for the sentencing of the firework vendors, at times becoming tearful in the public gallery.
Mark Vardy was prosecuted as an individual, while his son Luke attended as the director of the company LMV Enterprises (of Station Road, Rayleigh), which had also pleaded guilty to two offences.
Charges against Luke Vardy as an individual were dropped after his company admitted culpability.
The boy who bought and posted the firework can now be named for the first time as Callum Dunne, then 15 (02/02/2006) and from Southend.
The Old Bailey heard last year that his then 18-year-old accomplice Kai Cooper dared him to post the firework.
Both were convicted of manslaughter but Dunne's name could not be reported due to a court order as he was still under 18.
However, he turned 18 in February this year and Judge Holdham imposed no new order.
Cooper, of Cleve Road in Leatherhead, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, while Dunne got three years and eight months.
Prosecutor Ryan Thompson played CCTV at Romford Magistrates’ Court of Mark Vardy laughing and joking with the boys as they told him their plans that night.
He was working behind the counter in the Fireworks 4 Sale shop in Station Road, Harold Wood. His son Luke was not present. The shop has since lost its licence.
“People are going to get terrorised tonight,” Cooper told Mark Vardy, even asking him which were the best fireworks to throw at people.
Dunne commented that he wanted to throw them at police, while Cooper said he planned to light a Catherine wheel and “just throw it”.
”I shouldn’t encourage you to do things like that,” joked Mr Vardy, who was caught on camera accepting money from Dunne for some of the explosives after being told he was 16.
He even told the boys of one of the fireworks, called an "air bomb": "You can hold it, throw it, do what you like with it."
The court heard how Luke Vardy, 29, repeatedly failed to turn over the unedited CCTV to police, instead twice handing over only short clips with no audio.
Police eventually had to go to court for a warrant to obtain it, describing “a complete lack of cooperation”.
“I’ve never had to apply for a warrant in order to obtain CCTV,” an officer wrote in a statement read to the court.
”I’ve never heard of an officer having to go to these lengths.”
Luke Vardy told police that the CCTV system was entirely cloud-based and he needed an IT person to retrieve it, but when officers attended the shop they found a recording box there. However, Mark Vardy twice refused them access to it.
Luke Vardy later claimed he didn’t even know the system recorded audio - but in the CCTV footage from the night, his father had joked with the boys about making incriminating comments in front of the CCTV camera. He also told police he read names from IDs aloud in the shop so the CCTV would record them.
After executing the warrant, an officer wrote: “It became apparent why it would be undesirable to the business for the police to have this footage.”
When Mark Vardy gave a statement to police, said Mr Thompson, he had failed to mention any of the incriminating comments the teens had made before he served them and continually denied serving anybody under 18.
Mitigating for Mark Vardy, barrister Theodore Burges said he had “significant health issues” including a heart condition with an average life expectancy of five years.
He was described as a man of good character and exemplary conduct who had fostered 37 children and had five children and seven grandchildren of his own.
”Simply put, he does not have long left with them,” said Mr Burges, adding: “Should we rob him of the opportunity to say goodbye to his loved ones?”
Josephine’s son Alan said: “We didn’t get that opportunity, did we?”
Mr Burges claimed Mark Vardy was bankrupt with no house and no car, who lived on benefits and would struggle with a sizeable financial penalty.
Mitigating for LMV Enterprises, barrister David Claxton said the firm had “almost ceased trading” and no longer dealt in fireworks, instead now serving as a website creation and maintenance business for Luke Vardy.
He said it traded in fireworks for six years in different locations around Havering and had passed annual licence renewal inspections.
However, the Recorder revealed last year that Luke Vardy had previously been prosecuted over Covid breaches at Fireworks 4 Sale.
He "refused" to shut down his shops or switch to a click-and-collect service during lockdown, according to Havering Council, then “refused to acknowledge” penalty notices.
He had to pay more than £4,000 in fines and costs.
Mr Thompson told the court on Tuesday that neither Luke nor Mark Vardy attended court last year when they were summonsed over the sale of fireworks to Dunne, leading to an arrest warrant being issued - although they surrendered before it had to be executed.
Judge Holdham sentenced Mark Vardy to six weeks imprisonment, but suspended the sentence for 12 months.
She ordered him to pay £500 towards Havering Council's prosecution costs, plus a £128 victim surcharge. He will pay £50 per month.
The judge ordered LMV Enterprises to pay a £7,500 fine, £8,500 towards the council's costs and a £190 victim surcharge. It will pay £1,000 per month.
Mark Vardy held a newspaper over his face as he walked free from court, while Luke Vardy hid in Romford police station, then behind a bush, before hurrying away with his phone pressed against his face.
Asked whether they felt the sentences were justice, Alan Smith said: "No. I don't think so. I feel deflated. I thought the company would get a bigger fine than that.
"What those boys did was a silly, puerile act, but Mark Vardy was a grown man, a responsible adult, who made a poor decision and has just walked away. All he had to do was say no. It was only £8.99."
"He could have stopped them there and then, but he didn't," added his wife Lisa.
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