Prisoner sets fire to bed after family photo stolen

A MAN set fire to bedding in his Swansea Prison cell after a fellow inmate took the only photograph he had of his daughter.

Adam John Miller had been sent to the facility on Oystermouth Road for non-payment of fines, when he carried out the act last Sunday.

Swansea Magistrates’ Court was told that Miller, 26, of Idwal Place in Penlan, had asked a member of staff for help in getting his photograph returned.

Prosecuting, Julie Sullivan said: “The defendant had been engaged in conversation with a member of staff and was unhappy because it was a photograph of a personal family nature, and then threatened to start a fire in his cell. He was due to be released the following day, but he said, ‘I don’t care, I will stay here’.”

He then set fire to his bedding. The incident meant other inmates had to be confined to their cells while it was dealt with.

Officers managed to extinguish the fire with a hosepipe through the cell’s observation hatch, despite Miller having put his mattress against the door in a bid to thwart them.

Mitigating, Grayson Tanner said: “He went to prison on Monday last week in respect of nonpayment of fines. He was due to be released... Another inmate came into his cell and stole some personal belongings as well as a picture of his daughter, which triggered this offence... He remonstrated with staff, who told him the other inmate had moved to Parc Prison and the photo had gone with him or disappeared.”

Miller pleaded guilty to a charge of arson. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with a requirement for a thinking skills programme, and also ordered to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work.