A MAN who witnessed the fire in which a Cwmbran family died last year told a jury he saw the man accused of their murder near the burning house with a 'smirk' on his face.

Carl Mills, 28, of no fixed abode, denies killing two women and a baby by setting fire to their house in Tillsland, Coed Eva on September 17, 2012.

Mrs Buckley, her 17-year-old daughter Kayleigh, and six-month-old granddaughter Kimberley all died in the fire which took hold at around 3am.

Another sister, Eleanor Ashley, and her boyfriend James Hendy gave evidence to the court.

Mr Hendy, who had been staying at the Ashley house on the night of the fire, said he was woken at around 3am by his girlfriend's sister and heard windows exploding or popping.

He took three pictures of the fire on his mobile phone through a window before dressing and going outside. While walking down the pathway next to the house, he walked past a man he recognised as Mills.

"He muttered something, it sounded like 'you starting?' like he wanted a fight or something," said Mr Hendy. "I couldn't understand him. I had seen him about before but never spoken to him.

"I saw him being dragged off by the police."

Stephen Jones, who lives in flats near Tillsland, said he knew Kim and Kayleigh well and recognised Mills by sight.

On September 17 last year he had fallen asleep on his sofa, and awoke to find smoke blowing in through the window.

He heard screaming so went onto his balcony, facing the back of the Buckley's home.

"I went downstairs and through my front door, and could hear one of the girls calling to Kayleigh 'where's the baby?' and Kim screaming," said Mr Jones.

"I could hear Kayleigh saying 'mum, mum, where are you mum?' I'm pretty sure I heard Kim say something about burning. That's all I heard her say."

Mr Bull asked Mr Jones if the noise lasted for long, to which he said "no".

While standing in a car park facing the house, the defendant walked past him, said Mr Jones.

"He walked past me on the right hand side and looked and carried on walking, and didn't say anything," he said. "There was a smirk on his face. When I looked around he had been taken by the police."

Mr Harrington read from Mr Jones' police statement that for a split second he hadn't recognised Mills.

Mr Jones replied: "I recognised him within seconds but you must appreciate they were in the house screaming. My attention was on the fire except for that split second when he walked past me. He was smirking rather than smiling."

The trial resumes on Monday.