Man Jailed for Setting fire to Homeless Man and his Tent
Birmingham,West Midlands, Wednesday 11th October 2017 Dramatic video shows moment homeless man’s tent is set on fire These are the moment a homeless man’s tent was set on fire, whilst e was still in it seconds before he managed to scramble free.The dramatic images show Ian Gordon strolling up to the tent, which was pitched on grass off Carrs Lane in Birmingham city centre, before starting a number of fires around it. The tent was engulfed in flames and destroyed in minutes, but the man inside was able to get out just in time.
_psEmbed(“https://uknip.photoshelter.com”); The images were shared on an internal police briefing system and a PC immediately recognised Gordon. He was arrested the night after the fire, which happened on the morning of 21 June this year. Gordon, aged 51, of Sheldon Heath Road, Kitt’s Green, denied any involvement in interview. He was remanded in custody and pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life. Gordon was jailed for six years and six months, and had his licence period extended by four years. The victim was looked at by paramedics and treated for the effects of smoke inhalation. DC Laurence Green, of Birmingham West local investigation team, said: We still don’t know what the motivation for this was. Following the offence, a number of officers from the local neighbourhood team and CID walked around the city centre, speaking with members of the homeless community, not only to gather intelligence of the offence, but to reassure them. The offender was quickly identified from the excellent CCTV footage and was arrested from his home address.
