Drug-dealer brother of boy, 7, who died in Deptford arson attack sent back to prison

The aftermath of the fatal arson attack in Deptford
PA
John Dunne @jhdunne13 August 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The convicted drug-dealer brother of a seven-year-old boy killed in a suspected arson murder has been sent back to prison.

Sam Urhie, who had recently been released after being jailed in 2016 for drug dealing offences, was arrested on Friday “on an urgent recall to prison”.

The Metropolitan Police said the 21-year-old had not been arrested as a suspect in last Tuesday’s blaze at the family home in Deptford, south-east London, which killed brother Joel.

A spokesman for the force said: “A 21-year-old man was arrested by police in Lewisham on Friday, 10 August on behalf of the Probation Service following an urgent recall to prison.

“He was not arrested as a suspect in the ongoing murder investigation following the fatal fire in Deptford.”

Killed in arson attack: Joel Urhie, 7
PA

Two men, aged 21 and 29, were arrested in connection with the fire on Saturday morning.

They were detained on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life, and were later released under investigation pending further inquiries.

Sources have said that one line of inquiry in the fire investigation is that the attack was gang-related amid reports Sam may have been the target.

Court records show Sam was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in February 2016.

The Crown Prosecution Service said he was handed a jail sentence of four years and four months after he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply, and having criminal cash.

Police have said they are keeping an “open mind concerning motive”.

Joel was found dead after the fire, and a post-mortem found his cause of death was “consistent with fire and smoke inhalation”.

His mother Sophie and 19-year-old sister Sarah escaped by jumping out of a first-floor window.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT