Woman watched former partner burn to death at Davyhulme house (From Messenger Newspapers)

Woman watched former partner burn to death at Davyhulme house, body found next to his burnt out car

10:00am Thursday 30th August 2012 in News By Kate Banks, Reporter

A WOMAN watched on in horror as her former partner burned to death in front of her at her house in Davyhulme on Tuesday night.

The 50-year-old man, named locally as Ronald Nigel Barlow, died next to his burnt out car that had been parked in an enclosed yard at the back of the house on Skye Road.

His former partner, who did not wish to be named, claimed the man had turned up at the property in a ‘disturbed and drunken state’ and had first tried to set fire to her house through the letter box, which had already been boarded up by the fire service.

She said: “He eventually managed to get round the back, got into his car, threw petrol across the seats and set it alight.
 

“It then went up in a huge fire ball, he got out, and I watched him die in a huge sheet of flames.”

The woman had meanwhile pressed the panic button installed in her home and called 999.
 

The incident was also filmed on CCTV cameras installed at the property.
 

The woman said Mr Barlow had previously been her partner for nine and a half years and had already faced charges of affray and attempt to kill at crown court on June 15 this year.

Emergency services arrived at the house at around 11pm after reports of a fire.
 

Fire crews from Stretford and Eccles stations attended the scene and found a saloon car on fire at the back of the house and extinguished the blaze.
 

The man’s body had suffered serious burns and he was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
 

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) have now launched a joint investigation.
 

However, at this stage the death is not being treated as suspicious.