Fire baby rescued from his dead mother's arms

The 17-month-old boy was pulled from his mother's arms by neighbours as the fire raged in the fourth floor flat of Chartham House in Weston Street, Southwark.

He is in a critical condition in a hospital's specialist burns unit.

His mother, Diana Sparks, was found huddled over him after four men living in homes surrounding the burning flat broke down its locked front door with a baseball bat.

Paramedics pronounced Ms Sparks, said to be in her late thirties, dead at the scene. It is not known whether she died of smoke inhalation or burning. A post mortem examination will be held today.

It is thought detectives are also looking into the possibility that she had been beaten and severely injured before the blaze was started deliberately.

Ms Sparks raised the alarm when her flat was set alight on Saturday night. Neighbour Rachel Daniel, a 28-yearold bailiff, said: "I heard a woman shouting: 'There's a baby in there.' It was awful."

Other neighbours say Ms Sparks and her boyfriend had spent most of the day arguing. One, who asked not to be named, said: "It was that bad I had to take a tablet to get to sleep. I was woken by a banging, like someone was trying to get out of the door. Then I heard her shouting, 'Help! Help,' so I raced up the stairs and onto her landing with the other guys who helped get the child out."

Melissa Whitehouse, who lives in the same block of council flats, today told how the killer calmly walked away from the scene before riding away on a motorbike.

She told police she watched a man - who was wearing bike leathers and carrying a helmet - walk away from the flat and down a stairwell before riding away into the night.

Her 26-year-old brother Martin, a security guard, said he had twice attempted to get to the screaming woman but was beaten back by the intense heat and dense black smoke.

Police have launched a murder investigation and hours after the fire was reported a 36-year-old man was arrested in Peckham.

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta said: "We are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen anyone leaving the block around this time or from anyone who may have heard or seen a disturbance at the address."