Two homeless drugs users are believed to have died from an overdose when the garage in Ladywell they were living in went up in flames, an inquest heard.

Firefighters were called to a row of garages in Ladywell Road, near the junction of Malyons Road, at about 8.30am on July 6 last year, after smoke was spotted by a passer-by at a nearby bus stop.

The remains of two bodies were found badly burnt inside the garage, which had been used by homeless people and drug users for at least the past eight months, the court heard.

Today an inquest began at Southwark Coroners’ Court into the death of the victims, Ross Tillbrook, 36, and 46-year-old Nicola Malthouse.

The families of Mr Tillbrook and Ms Malthouse, who were in court for the inquest, believe the fire could have been started deliberately.

However the investigating police officer was unable to find evidence to prove whether the blaze was accidental or deliberate.

Firefighters found Mr Tillbrook’s body on a charred sofa bed in the middle of the small garage, and Ms Malthouse was found crouched in the corner.

When police arrived at the scene they found another homeless man, Jake English, who had also been injured in the fire, standing outside the garage in shock and covered in soot, the inquest heard.

In a statement read to the court, Police Constable Barton said Mr English told him in a slurred voice: “My girlfriend is in there, I kept telling her to stop sleeping with tea lights on.”

Detective Constable James Campbell, from Lewisham borough, interviewed Mr English whilst he was being treated for smoke inhalation at Lewisham Hospital.

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Giving evidence today, DC Campbell said Mr English told him he had had an argument with his girlfriend Nicola and gone to sleep in another garage, when he was woken up by the smell of smoke.

But during his interview, DC Campbell said Mr English’s account of what happened changed, adding: “He did comes across as a little bit guilty.”

However DC Campbell said this could be attributed to the fact that he had survived the fire and had been unable to save the other two.

Mr English was never arrested or charged in relation to the fire.

DC Campbell told the inquest: “I couldn’t identify anything I would consider to be a motive to kill them.

“I couldn’t prove it was deliberate, I couldn’t prove it was accidental. Evidentially we didn’t have a lot.”

Stuart Drummond, a fire investigator for the London Fire Brigade, said he was unable to find any accelerator or any evidence to support the theory that the blaze was started deliberately.

Talking about the probable cause of the fire, he told the court: “It was most likely the misuse of candles, smoking material or something to do with the cooking of drugs.”

Giving evidence at the start of the inquest, Mr Tillbrook’s sister Cara raised the family’s concerns regarding the circumstances of the fire.

She told the inquest: “I feel it wasn’t investigated in full considering we were able, as a family, to enter the premises not that long after the event.

“Also that one or potentially two overdoses happened on the same night as a fatal fire I find something doesn’t sit right with me.

“I’m not saying it’s definitely a deliberate fire, I’m saying it’s possibly a deliberate fire.”

Ms Tilbrook said she last saw her brother in February last year, when he arrived with Ms Malthouse at her home in Bromley asking to stay.

She said: “Because my brother has burgled my house before I said no, you can sleep in the car.

“My brother got a bit upset, that’s the last time I saw him.”

Between February and his death, Mr Tillbrook had spent some time in police custody, his sister told the court.

After his death Ms Tilbrook said she learnt her brother had been stealing prescriptions from Lewisham Hospital.

Ms Malthouse’s sister Sally Perkins also gave evidence, saying she too believed the fire was deliberate.

She said Ms Malthouse had been clean for three years, until the death of their mother sparked a relapse to drug taking, as it had done previously when their father died.

The inquest was adjourned until next Friday to allow the doctor responsible for carrying out the post mortem examination to give evidence in person.

Although the toxicology report was not read to the court in full, coroner Lorna Tagliavini said that the victims had a “massive amount of various drugs in both of their systems” and the levels were “well above the fatal limits”.

The inquest continues.