£20,000 blaze after man forgot to raise alarm
A MAN who lived like a "hermit" inside a cupboard at his flat panicked and fled without raising the alarm when he woke to find the room ablaze, a court heard.
Alan Harrison, aged 38, had been suffering from a mental illness that caused him to retreat to the cupboard. It also led him to turn his television to face the wall because he was scared of monsters coming out of it.
Sheffield Crown Court heard he had fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette and accidentally started a fire in the cupboard.
When he awoke to find the flames instead of raising the alarm he "panicked" and fled the flat. Various combustible items kept in the cupboard - including bicycle tyres - caught fire and the flames spread around the property. The damage caused totalled 20,000.
Harrison, of Sitwell Flats, Shortbrook Way, Westfield, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage. The court heard that while in custody on remand he had received treatment for his condition and medication was now keeping his problems under control.
Sentencing him to a three year community supervision order, Judge Alan Goldsack QC said: "Your medical situation is fortunately stable today, but it is vital you keep up your medication."
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Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 07 February 2012
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