A MOTHER has described the five weeks since her son died in a house fire as the worst in her life.

After losing three of her 11 children – one died as a baby, another from cancer 19 years ago – Doreen Perkins is now left wondering if there is a God.

Her youngest son Richard Perkins died following an alleged arson attack on his home in The Glade, Malvern.

Speaking from her home in Norton, near Evesham, Mrs Perkins remembers him as a lovable, funny man.

“He was great and I thought a lot of Richard,” she said.

“Everybody got on with him, he was a good lad.

“It has been the worst five weeks of my life. It makes you wonder if there is a God.”

Mr Perkins was born in Worcester but grew up in Norton with his siblings Janice, Hazel, Su, Joyce, Christine, Graham, Colin, Angela, Maxine and Kevin.

He was a typical boy, enjoying playing with his friends and attending Norton and Lenchwick Primary School.

He struggled at St Egwins Middle School in Evesham due to hearing problems and later moved to Prince Henry’s High School, which he left when he was 16.

As a youngster he loved the outdoors, and on a family trip to Weston-super-Mare his mother left him playing on the beach with his nephew Michael.

When she returned he was nowhere to be seen, until in the distance Mrs Perkins spotted him playing in the mud.

“He was plastered in mud and a drought meant there was no water to wash him,” 79-year-old Mrs Perkins said.

Gardening was another passion of Mr Perkins, who re-landscaped his parents’ plot and worked for his brother’s landscaping company.

He also loved motorbikes and three years ago took his mother for a spin on the back of his Suzuki Sling Shot.

“It was smashing and I am glad we did it, although when we got home I could not get off so he had to lift me, I was 76,” Mrs Perkins said.

Mr Perkins moved from Evesham to Malvern in 2004 with his wife Roseann and step-children Katie, Ben and Shaun.

They were all trapped in the fatal blaze on Monday, October 13, and his wife and step-daughter spent weeks at Worcestershire Royal Hospital fighting for their lives.

Stephen George-Davies, aged 50, of Oak Crescent, Malvern, has since been charged with murder and five counts of intending to destroy or damage property and intending to endanger life. He remains in custody.