A shopkeeper who illegally sold a firework that killed a grandmother to a boy who posted it through her door has avoided jail.
Former shopkeeper Mark Vardy, 59, was handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of selling fireworks to Callum Dunne, then 15, from Southend.
Dunne, with the help of his then 18-year-old accomplice Kai Cooper, posted the firework through the door of 88-year-old Josephine Smith's home and she died from smoke inhalation as a result.
Both were convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey last year.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Ryan Thompson played the CCTV recording at Romford Magistrates' Court of Vardy laughing and joking with the boys as they told him their plans for the night on October 28, 2021.
District Judge Susan Holdham said Vardy and his son Luke, who ran the fireworks shop, had frustrated the police's investigation into the pensioner's death.
Judge Holdham found the father and son had engaged in 'deliberate concealment of the CCTV', as police eventually had to obtain a warrant allowing them to seize the footage before it was wiped.
Former shopkeeper Mark Vardy (pictured), 59, was handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of selling fireworks to Callum Dunne, then 15, from Southend
Dunne, with the help of his then 18-year-old accomplice Kai Cooper, posted the firework through the door of 88-year-old Josephine Smith's (pictured) home and she died from smoke inhalation as a result
Vardy was working behind the counter in the Fireworks 4 Sale (pictured) shop in Station Road when the two youngsters came into his store on the night in question
In mitigation, barrister Theodore Burges described Vardy as a man of good character and exemplary conduct who had fostered 37 children and had five children and seven grandchildren of his own.
'Simply put, he does not have long left with them,' said Mr Burges, adding: 'Should we rob him of the opportunity to say goodbye to his loved ones?'
Josephine's son Alan, who attended court with his tearful family, said: 'We didn't get that opportunity, did we?'
Vardy, who held a newspaper over his face as he walked free from court,was working behind the counter in the Fireworks 4 Sale shop in Station Road, Harold Wood when the two youngsters came into his store on the night in question.
'People are going to get terrorised tonight,' Cooper told Vardy, even asking him which were the best fireworks to throw at people.
Dunne commented that he wanted to throw them at police, while Cooper said he planned to light a Catherine wheel and 'just throw it'.
'I shouldn't encourage you to do things like that,' joked Mr Vardy, who was caught on camera accepting money from Dunne for some of the explosives after being told he was 16.
He even told the boys of one of the fireworks, called an 'air bomb': 'You can hold it, throw it, do what you like with it.'
Vardy held a newspaper over his face as he walked free from court
Charges against Luke Vardy (pictured) as an individual were dropped after his company admitted culpability
After being sold the fireworks, the two teenagers threw them in front of drivers' cars, into an open shop doorway and at houses.
A 'mega blast' firework was put through Josephine's letterbox, setting fire to her kitchen as she slept upstairs.
The Old Bailey heard last year that Dunne's then 18-year-old accomplice Kai Cooper dared him to post the firework.
Both were convicted of manslaughter but Dunne's name could not be reported due to a court order as he was still under 18.
However, he turned 18 in February this year and Judge Holdham imposed no new order.
Cooper, of Cleve Road in Leatherhead, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, while Dunne got three years and eight months.
In court on Tuesday, Vardy was prosecuted as an individual, while his son Luke attended as the director of the company LMV Enterprises, which had also pleaded guilty to two offences.
The Old Bailey heard last year that Dunne's then 18-year-old accomplice Kai Cooper (pictured) dared him to post the firework
Charges against Luke Vardy as an individual were dropped after his company admitted culpability.
The court heard how Luke, 29, repeatedly failed to turn over the unedited CCTV to police, instead twice handing over only short clips with no audio.
Police eventually had to go to court for a warrant to obtain it, describing 'a complete lack of cooperation'.
'I've never had to apply for a warrant in order to obtain CCTV,' an officer wrote in a statement read to the court.
'I've never heard of an officer having to go to these lengths.'
Luke told police that the CCTV system was entirely cloud-based and he needed an IT person to retrieve it, but when officers attended the shop they found a recording box there. However, Mark Vardy twice refused them access to it.
Luke later claimed he didn't even know the system recorded audio - but in the CCTV footage from the night, his father had joked with the boys about making incriminating comments in front of the CCTV camera.
He also told police he read names from IDs aloud in the shop so the CCTV would record them.
Josephine Smith's son Alan and his wife Lisa leaving Romford Magistrates' Court
After executing the warrant, an officer wrote: 'It became apparent why it would be undesirable to the business for the police to have this footage.'
When Vardy gave a statement to police, said Mr Thompson, he had failed to mention any of the incriminating comments the teens had made before he served them and continually denied serving anybody under 18.
Mitigating for Vardy, barrister Theodore Burges said he had 'significant health issues' including a heart condition with an average life expectancy of five years.
Mr Burges claimed Vardy was bankrupt with no house and no car, who lived on benefits and would struggle with a sizeable financial penalty.
Mitigating for LMV Enterprises, barrister David Claxton said the firm had 'almost ceased trading' and no longer dealt in fireworks, instead now serving as a website creation and maintenance business for Luke Vardy.
He said it traded in fireworks for six years in different locations around Havering and had passed annual licence renewal inspections.
However, the Recorder revealed last year that Luke Vardy had previously been prosecuted over Covid breaches at Fireworks 4 Sale.
He 'refused' to shut down his shops or switch to a click-and-collect service during lockdown, according to Havering Council, then 'refused to acknowledge' penalty notices.
He had to pay more than £4,000 in fines and costs.
Mr Thompson told the court on Tuesday that neither Luke nor Vardy attended court last year when they were summonsed over the sale of fireworks to Dunne, leading to an arrest warrant being issued - although they surrendered before it had to be executed.
Judge Holdham sentenced Mark Vardy to six weeks imprisonment, but suspended the sentence for 12 months.
She ordered him to pay £500 towards Havering Council's prosecution costs, plus a £128 victim surcharge. He will pay £50 per month.
The judge ordered LMV Enterprises to pay a £7,500 fine, £8,500 towards the council's costs and a £190 victim surcharge. It will pay £1,000 per month.
