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The aftermath of the blaze at St Thomas'
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Boy guilty of £5m arson
Paul Britton18/ 3/2008
A SCHOOLBOY pleaded guilty to an arson attack which virtually destroyed a historic church, causing damage estimated at £5M.
The 14-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, damaged a tank containing kerosene in the grounds of Grade II listed St Thomas’s Church, Newhey on 21 December.
Bolton Crown Court was told on Monday that he then used a cigarette lighter to set fire to the leaking fuel. The fuel’s path spread 25 metres to the church and sparked the inferno, the court was told. Nobody was injured or inside at the time but the building was left virtually destroyed.
The teenager, from Rochdale, pleaded guilty to a single charge of arson.
Sentencing was adjourned and he was released on bail, but warned by Judge Stephen Everett that custody would be considered by the court.
He warned him: “This is a very serious matter indeed. Custody is understandably one of the options that the court will have to consider on the day.”
The fire devastated the local community. Church services have been moved to St Thomas’s Primary School. All weddings, christenings and funerals have been cancelled for the foreseeable future.
At an earlier court hearing the damage was estimated at £2M, but the court was told that the figure could rise to as much as £5M.
Mark Angus, defending, said the boy pleaded guilty on the basis that he damaged the fuel tank then set the fuel alight with a lighter.
Judge Everett ordered pre-sentence and psychiatric reports to be carried out on the boy, who is due to be sentenced on 14 May.
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19/03/2008 at 22:56