The cousin of an elderly couple who died in an Alton house fire has expressed her frustration that it will be more than 19 months before the case comes to trial.

Stan Rickman, 91, and his wife Roma, 88, were found dead at their Heron Close home in the early hours of April 14 last year.

A 16-year-old boy from Hampshire – who cannot be named for legal reasons – has been charged with two counts of unlawful act manslaughter and a further count of arson in connection with their deaths.

A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said his trial at Winchester Crown Court is scheduled to begin on November 23.

Stan’s cousin, Ann Rickman Laker, said: “It’s frustrating that it’s taken this long to get to court.”

She also spoke of the tragic circumstances of the couple’s deaths.

Ann said: “I think Stan phoned his brother to say ‘the house is on fire, call the fire brigade’. He should have rung 999 himself. It’s terribly sad.

“Roma just couldn’t get on her legs anymore. It’s an awful thing to imagine. There was no way he could have got her out.”

Ann is the granddaughter of Fred Perry and Bessie Rickman. She eventually got in touch with Stan through curiosity about her middle name.

She said: “Fred and Bessie lived in a lovely cottage in Sway, which is still there. Stanley played in grandma’s garden, but I was born and lived in Weymouth and was never taken there.

“We emigrated to Australia, came back and I thought ‘I’ll try to find these Rickman people’.”

She traced the family to Sway in the New Forest, where former New Forest District Council leader Barry Rickman ran the post office and his brother Robert ran a scrapyard.

Ann, 86, who lives four miles away in New Milton, told them that Fred – who drove the Flying Scotsman – had married Bessie, from Sway, making her Stan’s cousin.

She said: “Robert said ‘I’ll give Stanley a ring. He’ll be ever so interested to hear your news’.”

Ann also explained why Stan had chosen to move 46 miles across Hampshire.

She said: “He was very clever with his hands and machinery – he even made a clock – and quite a few years ago he got offered a good job with the Royal Enfield motorbike company. That’s why he moved up from Sway to Alton.

“We used to meet up for coffee quite often and I’d been up to see him not long before they died. My son had met him too and we both said that he was such a lovely man.”