Back in April 2021, Dale Carter was among a group of friends who met at the King’s Head in Great Cornard. The evening ended in Carter and two cousins, April and Ashleigh Charlesworth, being hospitalised when a fuel bottle used to relight a heater on their table “exploded”. Carter, who is accused of adding fuel to the heater and causing the explosion, has denied two offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm. Previously the court was told that Sam Charlesworth, April Charlesworth’s brother, had brought the tabletop heater and a bottle of ethanol with him to the pub. He claimed he’d warned Carter about having to be careful with the heater and fuel because of the danger of a fireball.