Schoolboy heard teens screams in skip

The child was unable to save popular schoolboy Michael Temperley, 15, of Oakwood Avenue, Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, who died after he was allegedly locked in a waste container which was then set alight.

The witness, who cannot be identified, said he burnt his hands trying to release a locking mechanism which prevented the container door from opening.

A 15-year-old is accused of manslaughter and false imprisonment while a boy of 16 faces a single count of false imprisonment. Neither can be named for legal reasons and both deny the charges.

The jury at Newcastle Crown Court was played a videotaped police interview of the witness who was playing on his bike last July.

The area behind the Durham Pine furniture store in Gateshead's Team Valley Retail Park was popular with young riders who made ramps from scrap for their bikes, the jury has been told.

The boy and a friend, who knew neither the dead teenager nor the two defendants, saw two youths near the enclosed skip who told them Michael was in the skip.

In an interview with Detective Constable Julie Emmerson, the boy said one of the youths claimed they were ''carrying on'' with Michael, or having fun.

He said: ''This boy with the blue gloves on said 'Shall I light a bit of paper and hoy (throw) it in?'

''Me and me friend said no.''

The child told the detective the youth put some lit paper into a gap between the frame of the skip and its door, and the contents quickly went up in flames.

''He was shouting, 'Put it out' and me and (my friend) were shouting 'Stamp on it.'

''It went up in flames and we could hear him screaming, saying 'I can't breathe' then he just stopped talking.''

Later, he told the detective Michael had shouted: ''I'm burning, I'm burning, I can't breathe properly.''

The witness, now aged 13, and his friend fled the area fearing they would be blamed, but returned later to tell their story to the police.