‘Paperboy’, 63, admits arson attack on bosses’ home
Newsagent: We are lucky to be alive
A NEWSAGENT says he and his wife are ‘lucky to be alive’ after a disgruntled 63-year-old paperboy carried out an arson attack on their home.
Neil Hitchin, of Newchurch, admitted causing the fire next door to Watts’ Newsagents in Waterfoot, where the couple live.
At Burnley Crown Court, Hitchin pleaded guilty to arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered following the incident in July last year.
Speaking after the hearing, victim Adrian Watts, 60, who has run Watts’ Newsagents on Burnley Road East since 1985, told the Free Press he and his wife Caroline managed to get to safety when the smoke alarm sounded. He said: “You just can’t compute how someone could do that to you.”
A NEWSAGENT says he and his wife are lucky to be alive after a disgruntled 63-year-old ‘ paperboy’ admitted carrying out an arson attack on their home.
Neil Hitchin, of Crabtree Avenue, Newchurch, is awaiting sentence after admitting causing the fire next door to Watts’ Newsagents in Waterfoot, where the couple live.
Hitchin pleaded guilty to arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered at Burnley Crown Court following the incident in July last year.
Speaking after the hearing, victim Adrian Watts, 60, who has run Watts’ Newsagents on Burnley Road East since 1985, and lives with his wife Caroline, told the Free Press they managed to get to safety when the smoke alarm alerted them to the blaze in the early hours of the morning.
The grandfather-of-two said: “I saw the smoke was at the top of the stairs, and my first thought was it was an electrical fire.
“Luckily we have got an escape route through the shop upstairs so we man- aged to get out.
“He had poured turps through the letter box.
“It was a quite a tight fitted door so it was just the smoke from the burning plastic, but that is toxic and that’s what can kill.
“If we hadn’t had a smoke alarm we wouldn’t be here now.”
The couple, who are President and President Elect of Rossendale Rotary Club, had employed Hitchin for five years to deliver newspapers and Adrian added he ‘could never have imagined’ he would do anything to harm them.
He said: “He did a good job, he worked seven days a week and we increased his wage when he had to pay tax.
“We did everything we could for him. At the time I would never have said it was Neil, I didn’t think that he had that sort of spite in him. You just can’t compute how somebody could do that to you. We used to get on really well. I was just incredulous and disbelieving. But he had a grudge while he was still working for us.”
Adrian added that Hitchin’s guilty plea came as a ‘massive relief’.
He said: “Before that night I was a really easy going person but my whole demeanour has changed completely over the last six months. I’ve been withdrawn, irritable, flying off the handle.
“When he pleaded guilty it was like a huge weight lifted.
“It has been a bit of an ordeal for us all. I just hope we can all move on.”
At the hearing, Judge Beverley Lunt remanded Hitchin in custody and adjourned sentencing so that a psychological report and a pre-sentence report could be carried out.