Devastated relatives of a 14-year-old boy killed in a fire at a derelict industrial site – leading to the arrest of 14 children – told how they had been left ‘numb’ by the tragedy.
Layton Carr’s body was found after the blaze on Friday night in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, which took firefighters two hours to extinguish.
Leading tributes which poured in online, his aunt Nicole Dingwall said: ‘Can’t believe I’m writing this. RIP Layton, forever 14. You’ll be a massive miss. Thinking of my sister and two beautiful nieces right now.’
Layton’s 35-year-old mother Georgia was too devastated to comment according to relatives parked outside her terraced home in South Shields earlier today.
His 16-year-sister Bailey Ann was also heartbroken and the wider family were said to be “numbed” by the tragedy – as 11 boys and three girls, all aged 11 to 14, remained in custody having been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
The relatives, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘It is a hard moment. His sister is only 16 and is taking it as bad as anything. They are all just numb.’
Layton’s grandmother Gwen Dingwall was also too upset to comment. Speaking from her terraced cottage in South Shields she said: ‘It is too much’.
Another relative, Casey Garrett, posted on social media: ‘My boy. My baby cousin, my Layton. Nothing will ever come close to the pain I feel right now.’
Layton Carr, 14, whose body was found inside a former industrial building after a blaze, leading to arrest of 14 children on suspicion of manslaughter following the tragedy on Friday evening
Facebook tribute left by Layton Carr’s aunt, Nicole Dingwall, after the teenager’s death
Family friend Stephanie Simpson has been fundraising towards the cost of Layton’s funeral
Tributes poured in online for the 14-year-old while an appeal to help with funeral costs had this afternoon raised over £8,000.
Stephanie Simpson, a close friend of Layton’s mother, Georgia, who set up the fundraising appeal, wrote on Facebook that her ‘best friend Georgia Dingwall’ had lost her son ‘in one of the most tragic ways you could ever imagine’.
David Thompson, headteacher of Hebburn Comprehensive, where Layton was in Year Nine, said the school community was ‘heartbroken’ and extended ‘sincere condolences’ to his family.
He said: ‘Layton was a valued and much-loved member of Year 9, and he will be greatly missed by everyone.’
Floral tributes have been let at the gates of a crumbling business park where Layton died, with neighbours blaming poor security for the tragedy.
Floral tributes left at the scene of Layton Carr’s death in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Police tape on the gate of the Fairfield Industrial Estate, which has been declared a crime scene
Formerly Marconi’s Radar Plant, the site is now the 15-acre Fairfield Industrial Estate but residents claim large areas of it are derelict.
Although surrounded by a 10 ft tall graffiti-covered wall, sections of it have been breached in a number of areas despite attempts by locals to patch the gaps with corrugated iron.
The iron sheeting has been regularly ripped down by vandals – who then find they cannot get out again except by squeezing under the front security gate, locals say.
Today, the gates remained closed and cordoned off as a crime scene.
One neighbour said angrily: ‘It has never been right since Marconi closed. Kids get in and run riot.
‘I caught eight of them on Thursday. Four were on this side of the fence. The other four were trying to get under the gates to get out.
‘They were scraping their knees because they had shorts on trying to get under the gate.
‘Marconi closed a few years after we moved in 43 years ago and it was rented out to different businesses.
‘What happened is terrible. It is shame someone has had to lose their lives for it to get all this attention. Hopefully, some good will come of it.’
Another neighbour added: ‘Since it has been empty, it has been a nightmare. Corrugated sheets have been put up to stop (trespassers) getting in but they still get in.’
One resident, who lives near site, said: ‘Groups of 20 to 30 kids come down from out of the area.
‘It’s awful, it’s tragic what’s happened, but it’s avoidable. At the back of your mind, you think, someone needs to do something to stop them getting in.
‘I never thought something like this would happen. They are all so young.’
Well-wishers leave tributes outside the industrial estate where Layton Carr died on Friday
The damaged industrial buildings at Fairfield Industrial Estate where tragedy struck on Friday
The local added: ‘They come down in groups. I think it’s a social media thing. I have seen them get off the Metro, and they are not local. ‘They come in because there’s not much CCTV, there aren’t any houses, they can do what they like.’
Flowers and other tributes were yesterday left at the scene Including one that read: ‘Rest in Paradise Layton. Always in our hearts. Fly high with the angels. Took too soon. Love you forever. Lots of love.’
Another of the handwritten notes next left to flowers and toys said: ‘Thank you for brightening up our lives. You will be missed beyond words.’
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, said on Saturday: ‘This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life’.
