Would-be arsonist threw bottle stuffed with blazing rag over police station wall

A man who threw a glass bottle stuffed with an ignited rag over the wall of a police station was given a message by a judge as he was jailed.

The bottle shattered and caught fire on the ground of the car park of North Ormesby police station, on Beaumont Road. Mark Singleton, 49, was captured on CCTV walking past the station, just after 3am on October 16, 2023.

Police recognised him from the footage and he was arrested. On Tuesday, Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown court that Singleton was on camera "picking up cigarette ends and walking with a female" before the bottle was thrown over a high wall, where dozens of police vehicles were parked.

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Singleton, Of Beaumont Road in in North Ormesby, then ran away. He pleaded guilty to attempted arson, being reckless as to whether life is endangered, at an earlier court hearing. Singleton has 50 previous convictions for 90 offences, which include burglaries, and the possession of heroin and crack cocaine.

In January of last year, he was caught, with a pal, carrying 25 bottle of alcohol, after breaking into Lidl on Cargo Fleet Lane. When he was handed a suspended sentence, the judge branded him and his accomplice Andrew Parker, "a couple of old lags." Singleton's latest offence means he has breached that suspended sentence.

Judge Jonathan Carroll told Singleton that even though he had not caused any actual damage, the risk of harm was significant: "Had the cars set on fire and the oil and fuel ignited, there would have been a profound risk to the life of those in the police station."

He was jailed for 32-months, which includes an activation of his 12-month suspended sentence, for the Lidl burglary.

As Singleton was taken downstairs from the courtroom, the judge added: "May I say this to you Mr Singleton? You have spent most of your adult life under the influence of drink and drugs.

"It's limited your life opportunities. Please liaise with the drug services in custody and get the help you need. Come out clean!

"It's the only way you're going to change your life - stay off the drugs and booze. Make the changes now, while you have the support of the prison service and probation."

After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Deb Fenny from Middlesbrough CID said: “We welcome the sentence handed to Mark Singleton today, after he targeted a police building by throwing a petrol bomb without any regard for the serious nature of what he did. Thankfully, the petrol bomb he threw did not ignite and did not cause any injuries to anyone.

“Attacks of this kind won’t be tolerated and we welcome any action taken by the courts to ensure that people who think this is acceptable behaviour are subsequently imprisoned.”

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