A 16-YEAR-OLD boy who set fire to the Great Harry pub in Woolwich, causing £3.25m worth of damage and lost earnings, has been detained for four years.
During the riots on August 8, the pub, which had closed early, was gutted by fire and remains boarded up in the town centre.
Prosecutor Jonathan Foy told Inner London Crown Court today: “It was by fortune rather than design that nobody was seriously injured or lost their lives."
But the Abbey Wood teenager who burnt it down cannot be named for legal reasons, despite appeals by News Shopper and the police to have his anonymity lifted.
CCTV footage shown in court captured the teen, his face initially covered by a scarf, as he went into the pub where menus had already been set alight.
He was seen coming out, breaking off a plank of wood around 4ft long, tying a piece of his scarf around the end and lighting it in a fire in the street outside.
The boy then dashed back into the pub and was seen leaving without the burning plank.
Mr Foy told the court it was believed he used spirits from the bar to start the blaze.
Moments later, at around 10.30pm, the pub burst into flames in a fire which saw crews at the scene until 8am the next morning.
He calmly walked away and was then seen with a group of looters who were breaking into the Money Shop using a spade.
The court heard all that was taken from the store was its charity box, though around £6,000 in damage was caused.
The teen had committed offences dating back to 2006 including public disorder and an offence of handling stolen goods, for which he was handed a six-month referral order in April, the court was told.
In mitigation his lawyer Derek Barry said the boy was at risk of self harm.
He said: "He was caught up in a tidal wave of madness that was sweeping across the nation."
Mr Barry also claimed the effect of his actions were "beyond his comprehension".
But Judge Roger Chapple told the teenager: “This was not, as you suggest in your letter, a spur of the moment thing."
He said the arson took place on a night of violence in London when most of the population "watched with mounting disbelief".
The judge said: "The memory of these events will be forever etched on the public's memory.
Judge Chapple said: "The overwhelming likelihood is that it was your actions which were the cause of the flames which engulfed and destroyed that building."
He went on: "You made the flaming torch and you aimed it at the spirits behind the bar and you describe how those spirits went up with a whoosh."
The teenager was sentenced to four years detention for arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
He had pleaded guilty to that offence, along with violent disorder and burglary, for which he was not sentenced.
As the boy was led away he gazed up at the public gallery and smiled at his mother.
Officer in the case acting Police Sergeant Mark Gilchrist said: "The damage left the local community in Woolwich filled with dismay by the level of vandalism and disorder that took place that night.
“It is needless to say that the teenager's action could have cost someone's life. It was pure luck that nobody died in that fire".
Greenwich Borough Commander Richard Wood added: "I am extremely pleased with the result of the investigation.
“I hope that the public in Woolwich will feel that justice has been served."
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