THE man accused of setting fires in Essex and at UCAN has told a jury that his regular trips across the country were the result of his ‘courier’ work for murdered gangster John Kinsella.

Philip Day, 56, is on trial for the two arson attacks, as well as burglary at the Essex address and the stalking of two UCAN teachers.

Despite laying bare his criminal past – saying his work accounted for his car being seen near the Essex home around the time of the fire – he claimed his campaign to ‘uncover the truth’ about a perceived school paedophile ring was entirely within the law.

Taking to the witness stand, Mr Day – who has chosen to represent himself in a Chester Crown Court trial – told jurors that his ‘troubled upbringing’ had resulted in time in and out of prison.

This led to taking up delivery and collection work – the details of which he declined to disclose as it could ‘incriminate me and leave me in danger’.

Having been captured by ANPR cameras driving down towards and away from the area either side of the arson attack on December 31, 2017, he told jurors: “The person orchestrating things behind the scenes is someone I have known for a long time, and he was murdered last year. The person behind most of these trips is John Kinsella.

“He was a very high level criminal, someone I have known for a long time and had involvement with for a long time.”

He said the work was ‘low-risk’, adding: “This particular trip came out of the blue, it followed from a trip the day before to Plymouth. The trip to Essex was at the request of John, he said something important had come up.

“I referred to the something I had collected as something that cannot easily be obtained easily in this country.”

Mr Day also told the court that his conduct did not amount to stalking of UCAN head Cath Green and another teacher – who cannot be named – but instead sought to uncover the truth and appealed for information from the public to then hand to police officers.

He said his attendance at school events, which prompted a school ‘lockdown’, was simply to hand evidence over to Ms Green, and that he named the other teacher as an alleged sexual offender in a Facebook video due to a misunderstanding of the law.

He also said he managed the videos, and told people who threatened violence: “I have done bad things, but I can’t do this with violence. It’s not an option. I have got to do this legally.”

He says he was in bed by 10pm on the eve of the early morning UCAN fire having been in the house doing DIY, and showed the jury Facebook conversations with two separate women.

He was arrested the following afternoon, and remained silent throughout his interview, in which it was incorrectly put to him that he owned the Volvo seen driving away from the scene. In fact, his wife was the registered keeper with Mr Day an insured driver.

Mark Connor, for the prosecution, asked Mr Day how long it had taken him to ‘come up with’ the story about Mr Kinsella, given that it had not been mentioned in a defence statement submitted to the court in December, ahead of the trial.

Shortly thereafter, in mid December, Mr Day dispensed of his legal team and elected to represent himself.

He denies all charges. The trial continues.