Dagenham barman cleared of girlfriend’s murder and arson

A Dagenham barman accused of battering his fiancee to death and setting fire to the body as her children slept upstairs was cleared of all charges yesterday.

Scott Lindsay, 27, was said to have clubbed Natalie Correa over the head at least 15 times shortly after declaring his love to her in a text.

It was claimed he then started a fire at the couple’s two-bedroom council house in Lake Gardens to destroy evidence.

The partially-burnt body of Miss Correa, 27, was found on the sofa by firefighters after they had rescued Lindsay and his girlfriend’s two sons, aged seven and nine, from an upstairs bedroom.

Lindsay was at first thought to be a key witness in the investigation, but detectives later found the victim’s blood on both his socks.

Last September an Old Bailey jury failed to reach verdicts and the retrial began last month.

After four hours of deliberation the second jury acquitted him of both murder and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.