Lancashire | Archive | 2002 | August | 7
From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Wednesday 7th Aug 2002.
A 13-YEAR-OLD boy started a £3million blaze which destroyed three Accrington businesses under one roof by setting light to a crisp packet, a jury was told.
Burnley Crown Court heard how the schoolboy put the packet inside plastic crates and the fire which followed tore through the roof of the building, gutting CBS, Halfords and Netto, on Eastgate Retail Park, on July 29 last year.
Dozens of firefighters from throughout the area were called in to bring it under control.
The teenager, now 14 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies arson and claimed he was just melting a packet.
Andrew Alty, prosecuting, said about 4.30pm the schoolboy deliberately started the blaze next to Netto by setting fire to a crisp packet. He said that although he may not have intended to cause the serious damage which resulted he created an obvious risk of causing some damage. He did not give it a thought, he said.
When the fire started in the building, which had one roof and also housed Poundstretcher, Halfords was still open for business and staff and customers were inside.
People living nearby saw the blaze and alerted the emergency services. One fireman noticed plastic pallets which were well alight leaning against the back of Netto. Firefighters had to use bolt cutters to get into the retail park and 10 fire engines were called to put out the flames.
Mr Alty said three of the four units were hit by the fire, with only Poundstretcher remaining untouched. The blaze spread into the roof of the building in 10 minutes and caused more damage than perhaps it should have done. Its construction almost helped the blaze to spread.
The defendant was arrested a couple of days later and he was interviewed at Accrington Police Station in the presence of his mother. When he was first questioned, he denied being involved at all and said he had been at nearby Baxenden at some allotments. He then admitted he had been in the retail park looking in skips for things he could take, the court heard.
The defendant later claimed he had seen some lads in a nearby field, spotted smoke and was trying to imply others started the fire and not him, the court heard.
The prosecutor said the boy then told police officers he had picked up some matches, lit three or four but nothing happened and he turned round and left.
Mr Alty said the defendant then told police he had put four or five matches in the crisp packet and put it on top of a pallet. He said he had not meant to start a fire but had been just melting the packet. He said he did not think anything would happen and had not intended to burn the building down, the court heard.
(Proceeding)
© Newsquest Media Group 2008