Unhappy Amazon worker’s £8m arson attack at warehouse

A DISGRUNTLED Amazon worker who caused damage worth £8million when he set fire to a warehouse after being refused time off has been jailed.

Adris Ali, 22, torched a stack of paper with a cigarette lighter after his manager refused to give him any leave to sort out his love life.

More than 1,200 staff were evacuated as flames engulfed the 700,000sq foot warehouse in Rugeley, Staffordshire, at noon on November 4 last year.

CCTV and rotas identified Ali as the prime suspect who he was working in the aisle where the fire started. He admitted arson with intent or recklessness as to whether life was endangered and was jailed for four years.

Sentencing him at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Michael Chambers said: ‘You put a lot of people at risk and caused a lot of damage. A fire such as this puts lives at genuine risk.’

The court heard Ali started the blaze because he felt he had been ‘disrespected’ by his team leader.

Prosecutor Darron Whitehead said Ali wanted time off to sort out relationship problems, but the team leader had an ‘attitude’ to him. Minutes later, Ali, pictured, took a notebook or paper off a shelf, lit it with a cigarette lighter and walked away.

The resulting fire at Amazon’s flagship Fulfilment Centre damaged 613,549 units at the site, resulting in a loss of £7.3million. The repair, clean-up and labour costs amounted to a further £745,000.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service scrambled to the scene to find the fire raging on the third and fourth floors and the sprinklers activated.

Mr Whitehead said witnesses reported ‘large flames quickly growing and spreading between aisles’ and ‘flames stretching from floor to ceiling’.

Staff attempted to put the fire out, but after around five minutes they were forced to flee the building.

Fire investigator Carl Mason established that the blaze was started deliberately and said toxic smoke that engulfed the building posed a risk to firefighters and staff.

Mr Mason added: ‘This fire could have easily resulted in serious injury to staff and it took considerable time and effort to safely extinguish.’

The court heard that Ali, of Walsall, West Midlands, was a ‘picker’ who packaged orders for the company and had worked at the warehouse for three months before his arson attack.

Robert Cowley, defending, said: ‘It was a huge loss, but the defendant did not intend this level of loss.’

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Andrew Shorthouse said: ‘This was a serious fire which destroyed millions of pounds of stock, but we are glad no one was harmed. Ali can reflect on his actions in prison.’