Life jail term warning over Shrewsbury arson attack
Tuesday 12th October 2010, 2:04PM BST.
Arsonists were today warned they were putting lives in danger after 10 people had to be led to safety following a fire in Shrewsbury which caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage.
The fire, in Windsor Place in the early hours of yesterday, was the latest in a number of suspected arsons in the town in recent weeks.
Fire chiefs urged people to think of the consequences and warned that anybody who was convicted of arson with intent to endanger life faced a life jail term.
Their comments followed a fire at about 1.30am yesterday which broke out in a wheelie bin, which is understood to have been put into a doorway at the back of the Multiyork furniture store.
Ten people were led to safety from flats above the store, and bosses of the shop said about 80 per cent of the furniture had been des-troyed or badly damaged.
John Das-Gupta, area manager and head of protection and prevention at Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, today said: “What people might think is a bit of fun and tomfoolery quite clearly has the potential to jeopardise a number of people’s safety.”
Derek Taylor, fire crime officer with the county’s fire service, said: “People need to think about what could happen if they do these things. Any fire that is started deliberately has the capability of causing death or serious injury. If they get convicted of arson with intent to endanger life it carries life imprisonment.”
Yesterday Richard Ewels, a spokesman for West Mercia Police, confirmed a joint investigation involving the police and fire service had been launched into the fire.
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“Fire chiefs urged people to think of the consequences and warned that anybody who was convicted of arson with intent to endanger life faced a life jail term”.
This is Britain. There is no deterrent for crime here. If the criminals actually thought they would get proper justice, they would not do the crime. Whoever was responsible for this arson attack will NOT get anywhere near a life sentence. They will be out of prison before the 2012 London Olympics.
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You’re quite right Dan, my thoughts exactly. A life sentence would be appropriate but it will never happen. IF they ever get caught no doubt their solicitor,(more than likely paid for with public money), will trot out the usual b——t about them having a deprived childhood, learning difficulties, green monkey disease and any other excuse he can think of to get them off. You don’t get life for murder these days let alone arson, and we cannot blame the police for this, the problem lies in the courtroom, feeble judges handing out feeble punishment. There should be a fixed sentence for crimes like this, no excuses, no let offs, you do the crime you get the time, yeah,,,right. I hope someone catches them at it one night while carrying a baseball bat.
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DAN, YOU ARE SPOT ON. They will even be paid a reported £100 per week to attend a anger management course while in prison.
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