A furious pensioner turned himself into a human fi

A furious pensioner turned himself into a human fireball in a council office after bailiffs evicted him from his home in a case of ‘utter neglect’ by his local authority, the Old Bailey heard today.

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Frail Billy Kadry, 69, marched into the offices of the Fulham North Housing Centre and set alight to himself in an effort to bring attention to his desperate plight.

Judge Graham Boal, QC, told Kadry that such dangerous behaviour normally result in lengthy prison terms.

But he adjourned sentencing for a week to see if there was anyone of avoiding jailing the pensioner.

His actions left Hammersmith and Fulham Council footing a pnds stlg 20,000 bill and it took a month to repair the destruction caused to the building on January 27 this year.

Special arrangements had to be made so that partially deaf Kadry could hear the court’s proceedings today.

Both prosecution and defence counsel took the unusual step of speaking into microphones in the witness box for Kadry’s benefit.

The court had heard that when, a day before the attack, bailiffs arrived to evict Kadry from his home in Stevenage Road on the Clement Attlee Estate he raised a knife to frighten them off.

Police were called and the bailiffs managed to evict Kadry and change the locks on his flat.

Kadry then spent the night in his car.

When Kadry went to try and sort things out with the council the next day he was sent from pillar to post by Hammersmith and Fulham Housing staff.

A council officer told him his possessions were being put in storage, Kate Beck, prosecuting, explained.

Miss Beck said Kadry pleaded ‘don’t do that’ and said it was a ‘matter of life or death’ for him.

He also said he would rather go to prison than be made homeless.

The next day Kadry walked into an interview room at the council offices and when a female member of staff looked in she saw him standing there with his arms outstretched, holding a match.

She could smell petrol and within a flash Kadry was engulfed in flames, the court was told.

‘Mr Kadry was removed from the building on a stretcher suffering severe smoke inhalation and having difficulty breathing,’ said Miss Beck.

He was rushed to Charing Cross Hospital for treatment but made a good recovery.

No one else was hurt in the terrifying incident.

Kadry had denied having any rent arrears and claimed that he has won two previous cases in the county court against Hammersmith and Fulham council.

He had admitted one count of simple arson and one of affray.

Chris Henley, defending, told how Kadry visited four different council offices in all before he finally ended up at the Fulham North Housing Centre, said Chris Henley, defending.

‘That was the situation that led him to commit this offence – a very serious offence,’ Mr Henley said.

‘He was driven to all this by a sense of utter loss, utter despair and utter neglect on the part of the authority.

‘It was plainly an act of utter despair.

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Mr Henley said that Nigerian-born Kadry, who came to London in the 1950s, had no family:

‘Kadry leads a quiet and uncomplicated but above all socially isolated life.

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Mr Henley asked for Judge Boal to show ‘exceptional leniency’.

And he argued that if Kadry was sent to prison it should be for as short a time as possible – as this would make it very difficult for him to ‘re-adapt.

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And Kadry has already spent five months in remand, Mr Henley said.

And he will still have to be rehoused.

‘At some point somebody will have to take responsibility for his predicament,’ Mr Henley added.

Judge Boal told Kadry: ‘In the normal course of events these offences would necessarily attract a substantial sentence of imprisonment.

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But the judge said he wanted to explore ‘every conceivable option’ before sending Kadry to jail.

The court adjourned the case until June 30 to see if any alternative can be offered apart from sending Kadry to jail.

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