JLS star, Oritsé Williams’s £3million Croydon mansion goes up in flames days after he’s cleared of rape. Singer Oritse Williams, 32, home burned down to the ground, Tuesday afternoon, just days after he was cleared of raping a woman in a hotel room three years ago. The singer’s derelict south London home went up in flames in broad daylight and about 70 firefighters were at the scene fighting the blaze for about three hours as it ravaged the first and second floors of the detached three-storey, six bedroom property.
The property which was put up for sale in January has been empty since so nobody got burnt in the fire, the London Fire Brigade confirms. A statement from the London Fire Brigade on Twitter said: ‘The #Croydon derelict house blaze is under control. Thankfully no one was injured.’
Firefighters from Addington, Croydon, Biggin Hill, Purley and surrounding stations were called at around 4.30pm on Tuesday and the fire was under control by 7pm that night. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the incident is being treated as suspicious. They said: ‘Police were called at 16:39hrs on Tuesday, 4 June following reports of a fire at a residential address in Spout Hill, Croydon. ‘Officers attended with London Fire Brigade. There were no reported injuries. There have been no arrests. ‘At this stage, the incident is being treated as suspicious. The cause of the fire is under investigation. ‘Enquiries continue, led by the South Area Command Unit CID.’
A week ago, a jury cleared the musician of raping a 20-year-old woman at a Wolverhampton hotel in December 2016. Oritse, who pleaded not guilty was accused of behaving like a ‘sexual predator’ during the week-long trial. He claimed a consensual sexual encounter had taken place with the complainant and argued that he was being ‘taken advantage of’ because of his boyband fame.