Boy started fire at Shropshire home after row with brother
A teenager started a fire outside the front door of his home after a disagreement with one of his siblings, a court heard.
Water was thrown onto the fire to put it out and a curtain and carpet were damaged in the incident in December last year.
The occupants were able to get out of the rented property in the Buildwas area and no one was injured.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday the 17-year-old defendant, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was made subject to a 12-month youth rehabilitation order.
He had pleaded guilty to a charge of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered on December 10 last year.
Passing sentence, Recorder Peter Rouch QC said that it was a dangerous act and that fires could easily get out of control.
“People who start fires normally go straight to custody but reports suggest you are not considered dangerous and I have taken into account your age and welfare,” he said. He said the teenager’s mental health led him to behave impulsively and that he now had a degree of stability living with his grandparents.
The rehabilitation order means the defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will be subject to supervision, activity and fire service safety programmes and an overnight monitored curfew for the next three months.
Mr Kevin Grego, prosecuting, said the teenager’s father brothers had been in the house and had seen “an orange glow” at the front door and were able to extinguish the fire.
He said that the landlord of the property and the police attended the house when the defendant said he “would come back with friends and finish the job” and told officers he had “wanted to get warm”.
Mr Stephen Scully, for the defendant, said his client had been receiving psychiatric treatment for the past six years and had been the victim of a sexual assault when he was 12-years-old.
He said his client had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and had some learning difficulties.
On the day there was an innocuous argument with one of his brothers and his father had sided with his sibling and he was shut outside. “His brothers were laughing at him and it was a cold day and he started the fire outside the door,” said Mr Scully.He said the teenager was aged 16 at the time of the offence and was grieving for his mother who died in November last year.
Mr Scully said his client was now a trainee mechanic and lived with his grandparents and attempts were being made to reconcile with the rest of the family.
