AN ARSONIST who set fire to clothing at Weymouth’s Asda supermarket - shutting the store to shoppers overnight - has been told to pay more than £1,000 in compensation and given a curfew order.
Alan Bowditch used a cigarette lighter to set fire to a rack of men’s jumpers at the store after 8pm after being told to ‘go robbing’ by a friend, Weymouth Magistrates Court heard.
A shopper spotted the fire, on Thursday, March 19, and tried to tackle it with a fire extinguisher before an Asda employee took over. Firefighters were called and the supermarket was evacuated.
Asda was closed for the rest of the evening but reopened the following day.
Bowditch, 20, was later arrested and admitted in interview what he had done. Magistrates were shown photos of the damaged clothing, including CCTV stills of Bowditch approaching the clothing and setting it alight.
Prosecuting, Andrew Newman, said Bowditch’s actions caused £1,387 worth of damage. He said that if the store’s sprinklers had gone off, it would have potentially caused £1.9 million worth in damage.
He said: “This defendant has gone into an Asda supermarket at 8pm and set fire to stock.
“Customers had to be evacuated. I don’t know if there was a higher risk to people. Setting fire to clothing in a department store is an intention to cause an injury to persons.”
Mitigating, Simon Lacey, told the court that Bowditch had a mental age of seven as well as learning difficulties.
He added: “You have a young man with a good character with learning difficulties and I don’t think he has the intention to cause harm to anyone.
“I think there are lessons to be learned and I think he is scared of going to jail.
“He has now moved away from his friends and lives with his family. I spoke to him and he said he won’t get into trouble again.
“I think he realises that these incidents have serious consequences for companies.
“He does have great family support and they are doing their best to support him and get him away from drinking and anti-social behaviour.”
Chairman of the bench at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court, Richard MacRae, called it a ‘very serious offence’ and said: “The outcome of this could have been horrendous if the fire hadn’t been put out.”
Bowditch, of Barclay Road, Weymouth, admitted arson and was ordered to pay £1,387 in compensation to Asda.
He was also issued a community order where Bowditch must wear an electronic monitoring tag for six months and must remain at his home address between 7pm and 7am.
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