Firefighters who smashed their way into a 12-year-old disabled boy’s blazing home found him lying dead in a bare room, a jury heard.

Damian Clough had no external handle on his bedroom door and a metal bed frame blocked the top of the stairs.

Firefighter Heather Stephenson told Bradford Crown Court yesterday she followed her team leader, Gavin Whiteman, up the stairs at Damian’s home in Kinara Close, Stockbridge, Keighley.

In a statement to the trial, she said they wore breathing apparatus and had a hose reel.

Firefighter Stephenson said it was very hot in the house.

“My thoughts were that if there was a casualty they would be very lucky to survive because of the extreme temperature,” she said.

She and Mr Whiteman removed a metal bed frame serving as a barrier at the top of the stairs.

Firefighter Stephenson said she kicked Damian’s bedroom door and it swung open.

Mr Whiteman told how firefighters smashed the living room window so they could direct a hose reel at the blaze.

The fire had burned through the ceiling and another bedroom was in flames.

A dog was lying dead in front of Damian’s door.

Damian was lying face up on a red blanket. He showed no signs of life.

Mr Whiteman said the room was bare, with no furniture or carpets.

Robert Shaw, an emergency medical technician with West Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said Damian was naked.

Mr Shaw said he confirmed that he was dead.

Consultant forensic pathologist, Dr Alfredo Walker, said Damian had soot in his nose, throat, stomach and lungs.

He said he had been alive when the fire started.

Dr Walker said Damian had been killed by inhalation of fire fumes.

Nasir Khan, 18, of Buxton Street, Dalton Lane, Keighley, and a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named because of his age, deny Damian’s manslaughter.

The court has heard that Damian’s mother, Julie Clough, left him alone for a short time on April 4 last year so she could go to work in a nearby pub.

The two defendants are accused of deliberately setting fire to Damian’s home by starting a blaze in a living room armchair.

The jury has been told that Damian had a number of disabilities. He was severely autistic and had severe learning difficulties.

His condition meant he was unable to react to any danger.

The trial continues.