The man accused of murdering a toddler in a horrifying revenge arson attack broke his silence after being confronted with a photo of the dead child, the Old Bailey heard has heard.

Richard Curtis Kwakye was arrested hours after the fatal fire last September, which killed 19-month-old Siariah Letang and seriously injured her mother, grandmother and two other children.

The toddler from Thornton Heath died of smoke inhalation after petrol was poured through the letterbox of her grandmother’s home in Camberwell as the family slept.

Mr Kwakye, 28, gave police a prepared statement saying he had been at his girlfriend’s house in Twickenham at the time of the fire, before spending nearly four days in custody giving no comment answers to murder detectives.

But the court heard he began to open up when police sat a photo of the dead toddler on the table in front of him.

He said there was no way he would do such a thing to kids, before suggesting police go back and question another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Detective Constable Grant Bishop told the court: “I could see that his demeanour changed from very regimented and ‘no comment’ to starting some sort of thought process.”

The court heard plain clothes police teamed up with murder detectives to arrest Mr Kwakye and his girlfriend Sacha Williamson at her home on the evening of September 19 last year.

Police seized several mobile phones from the house while arresting the couple, who were dressed for bed when the police knocked on the door.

The court previously heard Mr Kwakye started the fire in revenge for a previous firearms incident and custody dispute.

He and his brother Dmitri John-Lewis, 19, deny murdering the toddler, attempting to murder the other family members and committing arson.

Their mother Josephine Nicholas, from Paddington, and Mr Kwake’s partner Sacha Williamson deny perverting the course of justice by providing false information to police.

Mr John-Lewis, from Paddington, denies a similar charge.

The trial continues.