A man who set fire to his sister’s front door afte
A man who set fire to his sister’s front door after a family
argument had his two-year jail sentence quashed by the Court of Appeal
today (Fri).
After a serious row with his sister, Nicholas Anthony Bishop,
25, of Kipling House, Stevens Road, Cradley, Halesowen, went to her
flat in Avon Road, Cradley Heath, and pushed some lighted papers
through her letterbox.
Immediately, he regretted his actions and called the fire
brigade, the Court heard.
But by the time the fire was put out, it had burned the door,
the hall carpet and the wallpaper, causing damage worth #183.
Bishop, who has a history of criminal damage and drunk and
disorderly behaviour, pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced at the
Dudley Crown Court on March 6 1986 to two years imprisonment.
Mr Andrew Fisher, defending, told the Court that two years
imprisonment was too long and a period of probation would be more
appropriate.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Sheldon, sitting with Lord Justice
Watkins and Mr Justice Kenneth Jones, said, ‘Arson is a serious
offence.
It is necessary as a matter of public duty to impose a
custodial sentence, but in this case it might be counter-productive.
‘
The Judge described Bishop as ‘of limited intellect’ and said
that, in the past, when he had been unable to cope with personal
trauma, he would lacerate his body.
At 15, his mother sent him to a special school in Devon
because she could not cope with him, and because of this, Bishop had
‘an ambivalent feeling towards his mother and his family,’ he said.
The mother was described as ‘very manipulative and not a very
good model for Bishop’ since both she and his father had been to
prison for theft in the past.
‘His family set a violent, asocial example,’ the Judge added.
But having decided that a term of imprisonment was
counterproductive, the two-year sentence was quashed and Bishop was
put on probation for three years.
NOTE – 1: What d’you reckon? This was written in 13 minutes!
NOTE – 2: PA not in court.
ENDS*
