Newcastle arsonist 'demented' by noise from alleged brothel set fire to tower block flat
An arsonist set fire to his Walker tower block flat after becoming 'demented' by noises from an alleged brothel.
Newcastle Crown Court heard emergency services received reports Jamie Banks, 37, had smashed up his Eastfield House tower block flat in relation to an alleged brothel in the building on July 27 last year. The court heard the defendant rang 999 threatening to set fire to himself and his flat.
At around 11.20pm that evening police received a call from the fire service saying Banks had set fire to the curtains in his flat, the court heard. When police arrived the fire had been extinguished by the defendant, the court was told, with Banks then arrested and taken to the police station.
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Mark Harrison, defending, said damage to the flat was minimal and the defendant was "extremely upset".
He added: "By the time of the offence he was demented by the noises from the flat. It is difficult to establish if it happened, but the defendant is adamant it happened, or whether those noises or activities in the flat was part of the defendant's mental health. They were real to him.
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Mr Harrison said the defendant was at his "wits end as his mental health deteriorated".
Judge Tim Gittins said: "You were going through a bad time, you were living in a rise block of flats and had gotten it into your head, whether it was a reality or not is another matter, that other residents were making a noise and perhaps conducting a brothel in another part of the building."
The judge said the defendant "snapped" and for one reason or another decided to start a fire in his own flat.
He added: "You phoned the emergency services, telling them that's what you intended to do. You were not deterred, you did set fire to the curtains in your flat and perhaps only by luck rather than calculation the fire was limited in terms of scope and physical damage."
The judge said Banks was reckless about whether other residents would have been harmed.
He added: "As soon as anyone lights a fire, in particular in a residential block of flats, there is a sense that the matter is already out of their hands. The reason arson is regarded as such a serious offence is that fire is particularly unpredictable. There was no guarantee that once lit you would be able to extinguish it before significant damage or risk to life."
Banks, who has 16 previous convictions relating to 23 offences, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered. He was sentenced to three years and two months imprisonment.