Father says repaired second-hand e-bike battery caused fatal Cambridge house fire

At an inquest into a June 2023 house fire in Cambridge, surviving father Scott Peden recounted how a stolen e-bike battery led him to purchase a second-hand replacement he could not afford to replace outright. The replacement repeatedly cut out, prompting him to visit local repairman Stoil Severinov, who first changed a fuse for £30 and later offered to bypass weak cells in the pack. Despite these attempts, the battery failed again and ignited while charging, causing a massive fire that killed his wife Gemma Germeney and their children Lilly, eight, and Oliver, four.

The blaze, attended by about 30 firefighters, left the property gutted. Cambridgeshire Fire Service identified the charging e-bike as the likely source. Severinov was interviewed by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, but no decision on criminal prosecution has been made. Since the tragedy, Peden has advocated for a ban on lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters.