A modified e-bike caused a fire that killed a mother and her two young children, an inquest has heard.
Gemma Germeney, 31, Lilly Peden, eight, and Oliver Peden, four, all died after a blaze at a flat in Sackville Close, Cambridge, on 30 June 2023.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said at the time that the most probable cause of the fire was an e-bike that was charging.
Cambridgeshire area coroner Elizabeth Gray told a pre-inquest review hearing in Huntingdon on Tuesday: “I don’t think it’s disputed it was modified and caused the fire.”
The children’s father, Scott Peden, who was in a coma for a month after the blaze, listened to proceedings online, with Germeney’s parents and other family members attending in person.
Flowers were laid in front of the building after the blaze [BBC]
The coroner explained that the hearing was originally to be a full inquest, but there had been an application by solicitors for Peden asking for further matters to be considered.
Miles Bennett, counsel for Peden, asked whether a witness could be considered for the full inquest and given interested person status in proceedings.
Bennett said: “Someone carried out a modification, quick fix, to that lithium battery.”
“Within a very short time after that quick fix was carried out there was a tumultuous fire at Mr Peden’s address,” he said.
He added he found it “difficult to fathom that someone who may be responsible for carrying out” the modification may not be given interested person status.
The coroner said that at the full inquest, background to the case would be outlined, and she referenced “the purchase of the bike, the battery being stolen, the modification”.
Bennett also raised concern about smoke alarms, which fire investigator Steve Fleming said were found in the property.
“Due to where the fire was, smoke alarms may not have been a relevant factor in this, and due to the escape route being blocked due to the fire itself,” he said.
The coroner adjourned proceedings, with a two-day full inquest hearing to take place on a date to be fixed.
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