An inquest into the death of a family of seven who died in a house fire in Omagh has heard that the man suspected of deliberately starting the fire was having a sexual affair with an underage girl in the weeks before the blaze.
36-year-old Arthur McElhill, his 29-year-old partner Lorraine McGovern and their five children all died in the fire at their family home in Omagh in November 2007.
The inquest has heard that the blaze had been started deliberately inside the house by someone using petrol and white spirit, setting fire to the staircase in the home.
Arthur McElhill has always been suspected of deliberately starting the fire.
Today the policeman leading the inquiry into the blaze said that in the weeks before the fire Arthur McElhill had been involved in a sexual relationship with an underage female. They said he had been bombarding another 16-year-old girl with hundreds of texts and phone calls looking for sex with her too.
The inquest has also heard how the locks on the exterior doors of the McElhill home had been locked from the inside.
