Latest news with #KatherineErrington
Times
14-05-2025
- Times
Drug dealer jailed for killing boy, 7, in ‘cannabis lab' explosion
A drug dealer whose cannabis gummy factory caused an explosion in a block of flats which killed a seven-year-old boy has been jailed for 14 years. Reece Galbraith, 33, was using gas canisters to run a 'drug lab', which exploded in October last year. Archie York, who lived in the flat above, died in the blast, as did Jason Laws, 35, a friend of Galbraith's who was helping to run the drug factory in Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne. Archie was asleep on the sofa when his home was 'blown apart'. His mother, Katherine Errington, and his seven-week old brother, Finley, were pulled alive from the rubble. The explosion destroyed six of the 12 flats in the block and left many families homeless. Galbraith was found
Sky News
14-05-2025
- Sky News
Grieving mother relives 'nightmare' - as son's killer jailed over Newcastle cannabis lab explosion
The mother of seven-year-old Archie York says she is "heartbroken" and "can't live her life without him" as her son's killer is jailed for manslaughter. Archie was killed in a blast that tore through six houses in Violet Close, Newcastle, in October last year. The family were sleeping in an upstairs flat when a secret cannabis lab, that was operating underneath their home, exploded. 2:52 "I felt as if I'd got thrown up in the air, and collapsed back down on rubble," Archie's mother, Katherine Errington, told Sky News. "I was lying on debris, I didn't know where I was. I closed my eyes and kept opening them repeatedly, thinking 'this is a nightmare. Why am I not waking up?' "And the reality was, the nightmare was my life." Ms Errington, her baby son Finley and her partner survived the blast - but they could not find Archie among the rubble. Later, in hospital, the family were told he had not survived. "I just remember screaming," Ms Errington said. "I was clinging on, hoping that he'd found himself a little hole and kept himself safe." Forensics officers spent two months at the scene, picking through the debris. Their home was completely destroyed in the impact, with the family unable to go back in during the investigation. She said: "We weren't allowed to see Archie, to hold his hand, to have those memories that we lost. We lost everything - his pictures, his drawings. "We had him cremated because the way I see it - I was buried," Ms Errington said. "And it's not nice. So I didn't want to put my son in the ground." Seven months on from the explosion, Ms Errington said the family was still "heartbroken". She told Sky News: "I can't live my life without Archie. He was just the perfect little boy. Loved his family, loved his friends. "It's just so hard. He was a part of us." Reece Galbraith, 33, has now been jailed for 14 years for manslaughter. He was running the cannabis lab with 35-year-old Jason Laws, who was also killed in the explosion. 'So, so dangerous' The pair were making a cannabis concentrate known as butane honey oil - or shatter - which can be used in vapes and cannabis gummies. It is made using butane gas to extract the oils from the plants, which police say was the source of the explosion. The senior investigating officer on the case, DCI Katie Smith from Northumbria Police, told Sky News they are seeing a rise in shatter factories, not just in the North East but across the country. "It's so, so dangerous," she said. "Butane - you can't see it, can't smell it. The amount of butane - it doesn't take much." 3:08 In Violet Close, police recovered equipment, including over 70 butane canisters. The impact of the explosion destroyed six houses and displaced over 100 people. "In my 24 years service, I've never seen anything like this," DCI Smith said. The type of butane canisters used in Violet Close are easily bought in shops or online. Calls for law change Ms Errington says she now wants to see the law changed to restrict their sale - including a limit on the amount of canisters that can be purchased at once, or mandating ID checks on people buying them. "My son lost his life for people's stupidity," she said. "If this is what I can do to prevent more families going through what I've gone through - that's enough for me. "That will keep Archie's name going strong." Asked about restricting the sale of butane canisters, the government told Sky News: "We were sorry to hear of Archie's death and we send our condolences to his family and friends following this tragic accident.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Telegraph
Moment cannabis lab explodes, killing seven-year-old boy
The moment a cannabis factory exploded, killing a seven-year-old boy, has been captured on CCTV. Archie York, who was asleep in a flat above, died after a makeshift laboratory set up to make marijuana gummy sweets exploded and ripped through the building in Newcastle upon Tyne. On Wednesday, Katherine Errington, Archie's mother, confronted her son's killer at his sentencing hearing. Reece Galbraith, 33, and his friend Jason Laws, 35, had been running a cannabis operation in the flat beneath Ms Errington's home on Violet Close, Benwell, when it exploded early on Oct 16. Laws was also killed in the blast. Galbraith, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, admitted two counts of manslaughter as well as possessing and supplying cannabis at a hearing last month. At Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, Galbraith was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the explosion which destroyed six out of the 12 flats in the apartment block. Before he was jailed, Ms Errington delivered a victim impact statement in which she accused him of 'taking risks for profit' and 'not caring who got hurt'. Speaking through tears, she addressed Galbraith directly, saying: 'You brought gas canisters into a building where families lived. You ran a drugs operation under the floor where my children slept.' Shouting at him while sobbing, she continued: 'You killed my son.' She said that Galbraith had not only taken her eldest son from her, but he had also stolen 'our peace, our safety, our home and our future'. 'We are not who we used to be. We are the parents of a child who was killed in his own home while he slept,' she said. 'Highly dangerous' process Police investigating the explosion discovered that the flat operated by Galbraith and Laws was used as a 'drugs lab' to produce cannabis concentrates, known as 'shatter' or 'butane honey oil', in a highly dangerous process. The product was then turned into cannabis edibles, also known as 'gummies'. Archie was asleep on the sofa with his father, Robbie York, when the blast ripped through the home he shared with his parents and his seven-week-old brother, Finley. Ms Errington was pulled out of the rubble by Mr York, who also found seven-week-old Finley, covered in dust but 'astonishingly unharmed'. Mr York could not find Archie and later had to identify him by dental records, and the pyjamas he was wearing when he died. The court heard Archie's dog, Chase, had also been killed in the blast. Ms Errington said the force of the explosion was so severe that they were unable to bury Archie for nearly three months. 'We weren't allowed to see him, hold him or to kiss him goodbye,' she said, adding: 'It broke us in ways I didn't know were possible.' Describing her son as a cheeky boy who was 'full of life and dreams', Ms Errington said that now 'all she had was memories'. Ms Errington said she was 'furious' when she was informed within a week of Archie's death that 'shatter' was being made in the flat below. Mr York said he felt 'nothing but anger' towards Galbraith and Laws, adding he had 'no sympathy' for the latter's death. 'They were making drugs whilst my family slept upstairs unaware of the danger that was below us,' Mr York said. David Brooke KC, prosecuting, said Laws had been using the flat for months and there was 'little purpose' for it other than the production of cannabis. Mr Brooke said Galbraith had been at the flat on the evening of the explosion and his fingerprint was found on one of the butane bottles at the property. A bag containing packages of cannabis sweets was found in Laws's car. Both Laws's and Galbraith's DNA was on some of the packets. Explosion caused by liquid butane gas At the time of the explosion, Galbraith was already being investigated for being concerned in the supply of cannabis, after police stopped his car in April and found a cannabis bush, a set of scales and cannabis sweets. Officers later found 250 cannabis sweets, moulds and 300g of a sweet mixture when they searched his house. He was released pending further investigation. Experts found that the explosion was caused by the ignition of liquid butane gas, which had been released and built up within the premises as part of the illegal 'shatter' production. More than 100 butane canisters were found in the flat, Mr Brooke said, as well as other 'sophisticated and expensive equipment'. The court heard the blast had had 'an enormous impact locally' and 10 households had to be permanently rehoused. Jailing Galbraith, the judge, Mr Justice Cotter, said: 'Archie York was just a seven-year-old with a wonderful and exciting life ahead of him. His parents have so movingly explained, their world was shattered on October 16 when their flat was blown apart and they woke up buried under the rubble, dazed, bleeding and terrified to realise their precious son had been lost.' He added: 'Violet Close was a close-knit, multi-racial community with many families that was literally blown apart as a result of your illegal activities in their midst, regardless of the clear risks to others. 'You bear responsibility for all this loss and destruction.' Speaking after the sentencing, Ms Errington pleaded with anyone involved in making 'shatter' to stop. She said: 'It's a horrible process which has caused the death of my son. So, even if people are planning to do it, or are doing it now, you've got time to stop, you could save a life.'
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘Cheeky, kind and full of life': Mum pays tribute to boy, seven, killed in drugs lab explosion as man jailed
A man operating a cannabis drugs lab which caused a devastating explosion in a terraced street has been jailed for 14 years for the deaths of two people, including a seven-year-old boy. The boy, Archie York, was asleep in the flat above the drugs lab being run by Reece Galbraith, 33, when the blast happened in the Benwell area of Newcastle in the early hours of 16 October 2024. In an emotional statement at Newcastle crown court, Archie's mother, Katherine Errington, described her pain at losing a son who was 'cheeky, kind, full of life and dreams'. She sobbed as she told Galbraith he had stolen her family's peace and safety and killed her son. 'You brought gas canisters into a building where families lived. You ran a drugs operation under the floor where my children slept. You took risks for profit and didn't care who got hurt. You killed my son.' Also killed in the blast was Jason Laws, 35, who was operating the drug lab with Galbraith. Galbraith pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Archie and Laws and possessing and supplying cannabis. He was jailed on Wednesday for 14 years. With Laws, Galbraith was using highly dangerous extraction processes in a small flat to produce cannabis concentrates, known as 'shatter' or 'butane honey oil'. The product is then turned into gummy sweets, aimed at young people and children, the court heard. Speaking before the sentencing, Errington told the Guardian she had never heard of cannabis shatter factories. She now wants to make sure more people know about them. 'I'm going to be Archie's voice and I'm going to try to make sure that no other family goes through what we have gone through,' she said. Errington and partner, Robbie York, both 27, lived in the flat with their children Archie and his baby brother, Finley. She said Archie was a funny, fun-loving boy. 'He was just starting to enjoy school and starting to get confident, like putting his hand up and answering questions. He really loved being a big brother to Finley.' Archie adored going to Five Guys and watching Netflix with his dad. 'He used to watch Dexter and stuff, he was just starting to get into that with Robbie. He said, 'when I grow up I want to be a policeman and arrest the bad guys.'' Describing the night of the explosion, Errington said she was asleep when she heard 'a high pitched squealing noise' and had the sensation of being elevated in the air and crashing back down again. She was covered in rubble and bricks. 'I was screaming for help. I knew I was outside because I could feel the cold, I didn't know where I was. I could feel bricks, I had loads of bricks on top of me. I could taste blood. Then Finley stopped crying … I didn't know where he was. I just started to close my eyes and I thought, well, if he's gone, I'm going to go with him.' Jailing Galbraith, the judge, Mr Justice Cotter, said: 'Archie York was just a seven-year-old with a wonderful and exciting life ahead of him. 'His parents have so movingly explained, their world was shattered on October 16 when their flat was blown apart and they woke up buried under the rubble, dazed, bleeding and terrified to realise their precious son had been lost.' Addressing Galbraith, he said: 'A close-knit, multiracial community with many families was literally blown apart as a result of your illegal activities in their midst, regardless of the clear risks to others. You bear responsibility for all this loss and destruction.' More than 100 butane gas canisters were found after the blast. The explosion affected dozens of families with more than 100 people displaced to temporary accommodation. The court heard many residents will not be returning. The financial impact is said to be about £3.7m. DCI Katie Smith, of Northumbria police, said Galbraith was left with little choice other than to plead guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence. 'The illegal activity he was carrying out – creating cannabis 'shatter' – is exceptionally dangerous to those involved and anyone else nearby. 'The tragic loss of life in this case should be more than enough to make anyone considering doing this to think again.'
BBC News
14-05-2025
- BBC News
Archie York's mother remembers Benwell blast that killed her son
Seven-year-old Archie York was killed in a blast in Newcastle caused by his neighbour's illegal attempts to make cannabis sweets. As one of his killers is jailed, Archie's mother says her son's death should serve as a warning to other criminals. Shortly before 01:00 BST on 16 October, the slumbering streets of Benwell were rent by the roar of an enormous Errington had been asleep in her bedroom with her seven-week-old son Finley, when the pair were suddenly bombarded with and buried beneath the walls and contents of their initially thought she was having a nightmare, but the taste of blood in her mouth quickly confirmed this was all too real. The utter panic and confusion was replaced by a realisation she was trapped beneath the debris of her could hear her baby son crying but could not find him in the darkness and destruction - his cries soon gave way to a chilling silence. "I closed my eyes," Katherine recalls. "I thought 'if my son's gone, as in unalive, I'll close my eyes and whatever happens I'll not remember it, I'll be asleep'."Then she heard the shouts of her partner Robbie, desperately searching for her and their baby, and she called back to him so he could zero in on her managed to push her foot through the bricks into the dust-filled air, Robbie seizing it gratefully and starting to frantically dig her out, also, miraculously, finding Finley alive and pulling him to safety."I got out and looked at where my flat was supposed to be," she says. "There was nothing left of it." The street outside had rapidly filled with neighbours and emergency services, with Katherine and her baby quickly rushed away for medical was at the hospital where police officers told her the explosion had been even more devastating than she had imagined. Her eldest son, Archie, was "gone".The last time she had seen him, her "perfect little boy" and Robbie had been asleep on the living room settee. Seven-year-old Archie had been the dictionary definition of a "mischievous cheeky boy", his mum says. "He was just a normal, happy little boy."He loved superheroes, computer games and school, where "everybody loved him", Katherine had been overjoyed at the arrival of Finley almost two months earlier, wanting to feed him and change his nappies, maturing overnight into a proper big brother."It was just how a family should be," Katherine recalls. "It was the best seven weeks of my life." Within seconds, several houses on Violet Close were practically demolished and a huge fire was raging, with more than 100 people having to be evacuated from their suspicions were that it was a gas leak, a faulty boiler somewhere, but investigators quickly honed in on the activities of Katherine and Robbie's downstairs neighbour, 35-year-old Jason Laws, who was also killed in the blast, and his associate Reece Galbraith. "The scene was hell for almost two months," Det Ch Insp Katie Smith of Northumbria Police says, detailing the "harrowing" finger-tip searches officers had to make in the rubble in the days and weeks after the blast.A suspiciously large number of butane cannisters were discovered scattered throughout the debris which, along with other industrial items such as a vacuum oven, indicated a factory making so-called shatter - a glassy-type substance used to form cannabis sweets - was operating in one of the blast was caused by a build-up of the highly flammable butane, the gas used in the production process, which was taking place while the neighbours all slept peacefully nearby. "The dangers go without saying," Det Ch Insp Smith says. "[Galbraith and his associates] knew about the risks that night, it says on the side of the gas cannister how highly flammable it is. "They disregarded that to make some money from drugs. "It caused utter devastation." For Katherine, finding out her son had been killed because of the illegal activities of a criminal neighbour only worsened her grief."It sickens me that it could have been prevented," she says. "You are supposed to trust your neighbours."This is more upsetting for us because someone chose to do that, it was their choice, not ours."The day she was burying her boy, 33-year-old Galbraith was in court denying being responsible for his death. It was only later, when confronted with the wealth of prosecution evidence against him including DNA, finger prints and mobile phone data, that Galbraith changed his plea and admitted initial denials caused further pain and consternation for Katherine."He's got no compassion whatsoever, no remorse for anything he has done," she says. She says her life now is indescribable, the shock and grief at the loss of Archie still never would have thought the routine of kissing her son goodnight and laying out his school clothes for the next morning would be obliterated in such a violent manner. But she is also keen to ensure he is remembered for being the "funny little cheeky boy" who "touched so many hearts" rather than for the way he was is also keen other criminals heed what happened."This should be enough to stop anyone trying to do any illegal activities," she says."[Galbraith] has now got a seven-year-old's death on his hands from his choice."Neither Katherine nor Robbie ever saw a future without son was going to be a rock for Finley, but the baby is now an only child with no memory of the brother who doted on him."I don't think we will ever move on from this," Katherine says. "That day is going to haunt us to the day we die." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
