The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Teens sent to custody over listed building fire
BOYS FILMED BLAZE THAT CAUSED £15M OF DAMAGE
TWO teenage boys have been sent to custody after torching a grade two listed building and causing £15m worth of damage.
The males, both 17, set fire to a shower curtain inside Henderson Hall in Newcastle, which is owned by Newcastle University, and the blaze spread across the property.
The Youth Court in North Tyneside heard how they were bragging, boasting, recording the incident on their mobile phones and posting on Snapchat. They also posed for a picture together while each smoking a cigarette.
Gurjot Kaur, prosecuting, told the court how they had been in contact on Snapchat and one of them had asked the other if he wanted to go to an abandoned building in Heaton, telling him “It’s sick you know”.
She said they gained entry to the former student accommodation, which had been derelict for years, through a damaged window on June 8 last year.
Video footage, which they captured at the scene, shows one of the youths trying to set fire to a mattress and the other blowing it out.
In another video, the same defendant can be seen using a purple lighter to set fire to the shower curtain. When the fire doesn’t seem to be catching, he seems disappointed saying “Please don’t stop.”
When they realise that the flames have turned into a blaze, the same defendant decides to record a video for Snapchat in which he says: “Oh my god we’re going to burn the f***ing building down.”
The other youth then records himself saying: “Oh s*** it’s getting worse. We’re going to burn the f***ing building down.”
Miss Kaur said a member of university staff, who is based at the campus, saw a large cloud of smoke as he was walking along.
He spotted two males on the roof and shouted at them saying: “Get off, it’s not worth your life”.
One teenager managed to escape over a fence, however the worker stopped the other male from doing the same.
The youth, who managed to escape, went on to send voice notes to another person in which he says he needs to avoid the “coppers”.
He says: “It’s fine, I won’t get anything on my record. It will just be a thing for minors. It’s just a little bit of arson. Pretty much getting away with it, I don’t think I’ll get a fine or anything.”
Miss Kaur told the court in North Shields how 14 calls had been made to 999 about the fire.
She said the cost of damage was £15m which did not include the additional cost of insurance. She said the cover was now £400,000 due to the premium doubling.
Both males, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted carrying out arson at Henderson Hall and destroying £15m worth of property during a hearing last month.
They were sentenced during separate hearings at the Youth Court on Wednesday.
Adam Scott was defending the teenager who used the lighter to start the fire. He told the court: “This place appears in (the youth’s) nightmares. It’s something that’s staying with him constantly.”
Mr Scott said that his client had passed his GCSES, was studying at college and had a part-time job.
He said that, due to his age, he didn’t recognise the risk of the fire.
Chair of the Bench, John Fleet, sentenced him to a six-month detention and training order. The defendant grinned as he was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Amy Lamb, defending the second youth, told the court how he was studying A levels, had a part-time job and was hoping to go to university.
She handed over a letter, which he had written himself, to the bench. “In terms of mitigation he is a boy who is genuinely sorry and remorseful for his actions. .”
The teenager was handed a fourmonth detention and training order. Ms Lamb told the court that she will be appealing the sentence.