The owner of a block of flats where two jockeys died in an arson attack has been jailed for 12 months.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said Jamie Kyne, 18, and Jan Wilson, 19, could have survived the blaze at Buckrose Court, in Norton, North Yorkshire, in September 2009 - had Alan Foster not flagrantly ignored fire regulations.

The mothers of the jockeys were at Leeds Crown Court to hear Judge Marson state that even after the tragedy, Foster continued to refuse to ensure the safety of residents to avoid paying for low-cost fire precautions.

The promising jockeys from from Galway, Ireland and Forfar, Scotland were trapped in a second floor flat after its former caretaker Peter Brown started a blaze in retaliation for being refused entry to a party in another flat.

Brown, who set fire to furniture and tins of paint Foster had stored beneath a communal stairwell, was jailed for manslaughter in 2010.

Sentencing Foster, 65, Judge Marson said the case involved “deeply disturbing” safety breaches which were obvious hazards and continued at his other premises after the fatal fire.

Jude Marson said: “It would have been perfectly obvious to you that there was a clear risk that if this rubbish caught fire the consequences for those in the flats, particularly those upstairs, would be very serious.”

In the neighbouring flats, an inspection revealed no fire-fighting equipment in the stairs or communal area, no signs about what to do in case of a fire and covers on smoke detectors which should have been removed.

Judge Marson said: “It is clear their deaths would have been significantly less likely but for these breaches.”

A prohibition notice was served on Foster after the fire involving the unaffected flats, but a month later Foster had done nothing about the deficiencies including material stored under a second staircase.

As a result of their concerns fire officers visited the nearby Buckrose House, which Foster also owned, which was being converted to 12 flats and found he had carried out no risk assessment.

When officers visited Buckrose House in August 2011 further deficiencies were discovered, including combustible material obstructing an emergency exit in the fire alarm panel room.

Judge Marson told Foster: “It is perfectly clear to me that despite all that happened in 2009 and despite being interviewed in 2010 you were unwilling to ensure the safety of residents.

“This was in part, not doubt, because you were unwilling to bear the relatively modest expense.”

Foster, of Norton, admitted four charges, two of failing to take reasonable fire precautions and two of failing to make a risk assessment at the two premises involved.

In mitigation, Philip Standfast said Foster had planned to sell the flats, but the property crash in 2008 meant that did not happen.

He said Foster was £1m in debt on the properties and on paper “bankrupt”.

After the case, Jan’s mother Margaret Wilson said: “It was basic house-keeping, it doesn’t take much just to tidy up a stairwell.

“Two lives are lost and we have to live with that, nothing can bring them back.”

Jamie’s mother, Madeline Cosgrove-Kyne, said they were happy with the sentence and paid tribute to the fire officers for their investigation.