Arsonist jailed over Christmas Eve flats blaze
ARSONIST Enzo Steward caused £54,000 of damage and an evacuation of his tower block by setting fire to his flat on Christmas Eve.
Dazed by drugs and annoyed at his family, Steward set a series of fires in his kitchen in the early hours of the morning.
Multiple lives were put at risk in 20-storey Redheugh Court, in Gateshead, where he had a flat on the eighth floor, in the middle of the block. Three floors had to be evacuated as the emergency services tackled the flames on December 24 2020.
Police officers also put their lives at risk by searching the blazing flat after Steward falsely told them intruders stealing his Christmas presents had started the fire.
Now the 39-year-old, who has 20 previous convictions, has been jailed for four years at Newcastle Crown Court after he admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
The court heard Steward dialled 999 at 3am telling the story about intruders.
Police were on the scene quickly and found Steward cowering in the corridor outside the flat holding a hammer and crossbow-like implement, which he put down when told.
Officers searched the flat looking for the supposed intruders but there was nobody there.
However, the kitchen was on fire and smoke was filling up the flat.
Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, said: “Aware of the obvious risk, they evacuated the eighth, ninth and 10th floors.
“The fire brigade were called and arrived to put the fire out. They found extensive damage to the flat and there was an obvious risk to neighbouring flats. Multiple people were endangered
because of the large number of flats.”
A fire report said several small fires had been started in the kitchen and spread.
Police trawled through three hours of CCTV from outside Steward’s flat and it showed no intruders had gone in.
When interviewed, Steward said he was watching TV when he became aware of fire and saw an aerosol with flames coming out of it so he threw his jeans over it and ran out.
He added that he assumed someone else had done it but had not seen anyone.
The court heard Gateshead Council,
which owns the flat, are suing him for the £54,000 of damage but he has no money.
Susannah Proctor, defending, said he was suffering from drug-induced mental health issues, paranoia, agoraphobia and anxiety. Miss Proctor added that Steward, who previously suffered a brain injury, has been remanded in custody for 14 months.