Fire started in flat was a cry for help

WOMAN WAS ‘IN DESPERATE NEED OF MOVE’

A WOMAN set fire to her council flat as a cry for help because she was not being moved to a new home fast enough, a court heard.

Grace O’Rourke, who suffers from poor mental health, caused homes to be evacuated in Ibbetson Avenue, Glenfield, on July 14.

The 23-year-old had already started two small fires, which went out, before she contacted the police and ambulance service asking to be sectioned and threatening to harm herself and to burn down her flat.

The adult social services team advised paramedics to take her to Leicester Royal Infirmary.

When she was put in an ambulance, she asked to go back indoors to fetch something.

She went into her flat and then emerged, telling police officers present: “There’s another fire in my flat now, let’s see if you can put that out.”

Andrew Vout, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court: “Officers got a fire extinguisher from their car.

“O’Rourke began panicking and shouting ‘Put it out, put it out.’

“It was necessary to evacuate the upstairs flat and two houses attached to the property.”

Details of the extent of the damage and the cost of repairs were not given in court.

The court heard O’Rourke’s social worker had informed the city council the defendant was in “desperate need” of a move.

The defendant claimed to have been assaulted at the flat and no longer felt safe there. She was unhappy when told it could take several months and her mental health deteriorated.

O’Rourke told officers she did not think she was getting the help she needed and had stopped taking antipsychotic medication.

She admitted arson being reckless as to whether lives were endangered.

Her barrister, James Varley, said O’Rourke acted recklessly when in a state of distress and, thankfully, noone was harmed.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Brown accepted O’Rourke did not intend harming anyone.

He told her: “You’ve been in prison for six months, which is the equivalent of a 12-month sentence and you’ve had the shock of your life. Don’t ever do it again.”

O’Rourke was placed on a twoyear community order with a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.