A MAN accused of the murder of his girlfriend, his baby daughter and his girlfriend's mother denied setting the fire that killed them - but said he had made "empty threats" previously to burn the house down.

Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, quietly-spoken Carl Mills, 28, took to the stand today in his trial to give evidence in front of a full courtroom including a packed public gallery and a number of reporters.

During his evidence Mills, who had to be told on a number of occasions by the prosecuting and defending barrister to speak up, told the jury he had first learnt about the fire at 15 Tillsland when he heard shouting and screaming while sat on a wall near the Mill Tavern pub.

He denied being responsible for the fire but admitted he had sent threatening messages to his girlfriend Kayleigh Buckley prior to the fire and had threatened to burn the house down but said these were "just empty threats really".

Mills, of no fixed abode, is standing trial at Newport Crown Court charged with the murder of Kayleigh Buckley, 17, their six-month old daughter Kimberley Buckley, and Kayleigh's mum Kim Buckley, 46.

They all died when a fire ripped through their home in Tillsland, Coed Eva, Cwmbran, on September 18, 2012.

Mills denies the charges.

Initially standing tall in the dock, Mills, originally of Bolton, Greater Manchester, began to stoop and lean on the stand in front of him as the day went on.

Prosecution barrister, Gregory Bull QC, also asked him to stop laughing on one occasion and later questioned him: "You seem to find this funny?" The defendant replied "no".

During his evidence, Mills told the jury that on the evening of September 17 last year he had bought a three litre bottle of White Storm cider at around 6pm before going into Cwmbran at about 7.30pm looking for cigarette ends.

He said he then walked to Tillsland and met Kayleigh in a nearby estate. But he said the meeting only lasted for a few minutes as she wasn't happy that he had been drinking.

He said he and Kayleigh then exchanged more than 20 text messages which included threatening ones from him which said things including a threat to burn the house down.

Mills, who told the jury drinking had become a problem with him and that he had tried to seek help for it, blamed the texts on his drinking and said he wasn’t thinking and he regretted it afterwards.

He described speaking to his friend Kevin Hill later on in the evening before going to the tent he was living in outside the Buckley home to pick up a bag of belongings before then going to an area known as ‘The Brick’ nearby to "chill".

He then moved to sit on a wall near the Mill Tavern pub at around 1am to 1.30am and carried on drinking. He said he had drank around half of the three litre bottle. He said it was while he was there, he heard shouting and screaming and realised it was coming from the Tillsland area.

After going to the area, he saw smoke and flames and saw it was coming from the Buckley home.

He described how he "jogged" down and saw neighbours who he spoke to before speaking to a fire officer and pointing out the rooms of the three victims.

When asked about his feelings, he replied: "shock really" and said he was concerned.

He said he then went to the back door of the house to see if he could get in but it was locked. He said he was then trying to look for something in the garden when a police officer came in.

Mills said he told the police officer his name and said his girlfriend and daughter were in the house but that he was then taken to a police car and arrested.

When asked by his barrister Patrick Harrington QC if he had anything to do with the fire, Mills replied: "no".

When cross-examined by Mr Bull QC, Mills said he had been "on a mission" when he first came to see Kayleigh.

He said he had not started a sexual relationship with her until the summertime of 2011 as he "didn’t want to rush into stuff"

When questioned about threatening texts he had sent to Kayleigh in the lead up to the fire, Mills said he couldn’t remember sending them.

Proceeding.

- MILLS told the court he had met Kayleigh on Facebook around August 2010 after she had sent him a friend request on the social media site. After visiting her a couple of times, it developed into a relationship after she turned 16 in December 2010.

Asked how they got on, he replied: "kind of ok" and said Kayleigh was "alright"

Mills described meeting Kim Buckley in March/ April time in 2011 and said although he thought Ms Buckley was "shocked" about the relationship and didn’t think she approved of the age gap, she was "pleasant" to him.

An only child who was brought up in Bolton by his mum, Mills said he then moved down full time to Cwmbran in July/August 2011 and lived in the Buckley home. Kayleigh then fell pregnant with twins in September 2011.

Speaking about the pregnancy, he said: "It was planned but we didn't know it would happen that fast."

Asked about his feelings towards Kayleigh, he replied: "I loved her" and said his feelings for the teenager had got stronger.

He added he had plans to get married to her, after getting engaged to her in August 2011, and wanted to get a house together with her and have children.

Kayleigh went into premature labour in March 2012.

One of the twins Angel was stillborn while baby Kimberley spent six months in hospital battling health problems including a heart defect and breathing difficulties.

Mills, who the jury was told has previous convictions including having an article with a blade in a public place and using racially aggravated threatening or abusive words or behaviour, admitted cutting electric cables when he had stayed at the Buckley home alone one evening in August 2012. This was while Kim and Kayleigh Buckley were at the hospital. He said this was because he had received a nasty text saying he was a "murderer" in reference to his stillborn daughter Angel and said he had reacted in "anger".

Following that he was not allowed in the home and slept at the hospital and in a tent outside the Buckley home.