Two people have been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a seven-year-old boy, who died following an arson attack at a relative’s house 18 years ago.
Joe McCafferty died in hospital on 3 May1997 after petrol was poured through the letterbox of this aunt’s house in Huddersfield and set alight. The boy’s aunt, two cousins and older brother were also in the property at the time.
A 65-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman, both from the Huddersfield area, have been arrested for murder and are currently in custody, say West Yorkshire police.
The arrests follow a renewed appeal from Joe’s mother, Tracey McCafferty, at the weekend for anyone with any information about the blaze to come forward. Sunday marked the 18th anniversary of the boy’s death.
“They say that time is a healer, it’s not. Time hasn’t healed, if anything it’s got worse over the years,” she said in a video appeal released by police.
“Not having answers, not knowing why; it’s there daily. Asking myself the same questions every day about who could have done this. Someone knows who’s done it most definitely in this town and I do believe local people talk about it. I feel sometimes like I live in a goldfish bowl and it’s not nice.
“It would mean the world. Just to put it to bed, to put it to rest. To be able to go to bed knowing that someone has been caught for it, to be able to get up in morning and not be waiting.
“The waiting around, year on year, is doing my head in basically. It’s not fair that I don’t know after 18 years who has killed my son.”
Det Ch Insp Elizabeth Belton urged anyone who knew anything about the attack or had withheld information to get in touch with police.
She said: “This is a crime that shocked a community to the core but despite numerous appeals for information over the years, no one has ever been convicted of this offence.
“Joe McCafferty was a young boy of seven, he would have now been a young man of 25.
“Eighteen years is a long time. It is a long time for a family desperately wanting answers. But it is also a long time for someone to live with the guilt of killing a boy with his whole life ahead of him.”
