Looter jailed for starting huge Croydon fire during riots

[Vertigo]

A looter has been jailed for eleven and a half years for starting a huge fire that destroyed an 140-year-old furniture shop during last summer's riots.

Gordon Thompson, 34, was sentenced at the Old Bailey for arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered at House of Reeves in Croydon, south London, and burglary. The blaze was so fierce that buildings on the other side of the street and tramlines in the road caught alight. Thompson, of Croydon, went on a rampage through the town on 8 August, looting Iceland and House of Fraser before turning on Reeves.

He was given eleven and a half years for the arson, two years each for two counts of burglary, and three years for a third count of burglary, to run concurrently. Judge Peter Thornton told him: "This day was a bad day for Croydon and the people of Croydon. "Perhaps the most shocking event was that the House of Reeves was set alight and burned to the ground, putting lives at risk." He said the shop "had stood on the site for over 140 years, proudly giving its name to its location, Reeves Corner". "You were about to bring all that to an end," he added.

"This was a deliberate, wilful act of shocking, dangerous vandalism."

The judge continued: "The Reeves family lost their historic business, something they and generations before had lived and worked for all their lives. Their loss is priceless. The trauma they have suffered is inestimable." Thompson followed other looters into Reeves and stole a laptop, before deciding to set fire to a sofa in the shop window. As the blaze caught hold it spread to buildings on the opposite side of the road, forcing residents to flee. One woman, Monika Konczyk, had to throw herself from the building where she lived to escape the flames.

Thompson admitted starting the fire on 24 February – shortly after the start of his trial.

He had been filmed on mobile phones and by CCTV cameras as he attacked the shop.

Bet he wished he stayed his ass at home.

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

Looted Iceland pmsl

wasteman

[curtis warren2]

he got made an example of boi, thats a nice 6 year stretch fack

[Marly Mar]

lol bored donnnie

[Yardie 2.0]

11 years. fakk

[Guest petercrotch]

LOL What a d*ckhead

[Mame Biram Diouf]

[Kurtis]

shame

[time_bomb]

ouch

silly guy though aged 34 came out his house to join in with the youngens, now he wont be out till his 40s

[Drift]

Thirty four years old.

Smh

[Meticulous]

wrong side of 20 and youre still doin petty crime

[scared of who?]

The c*nt fully deserves the 11 years!

[Vertigo]

Ah sh*t i forgot they also caught and sentenced the guy who burned down that shop in peckham as well. Lol at his mugshot.

Cross-eyed rioter caught by police who noticed his distinctive gaze is jailed for eight years over £1m arson attack

A cross-eyed arsonist who set fire to a shop and post office during the August riots has been jailed for eight years, after police spotted his unusual eyes on CCTV.

Andrew Burls, 23, started blazes at Regen's Lingerie boutique in Rye Lane, Peckham, south London, which spread through neighbouring Greggs bakery and a post office in the same street, during riots that spread across the capital last year. The damage cost more than £1 million and left six people homeless.

Burls’ rampage began at Iceland at around 6.30pm, moving on to the Post Office and Regen’s, and he was seen with surging looters in Maestro Records.

In footage from Iceland Burls can be seen approaching the shop and pulling the pane of glass from the window before going in followed by a surge of looters. The supervisor and staff were in the shop and locked themselves in a back office, where they watched on CCTV the masked mob throwing bricks at the building. The manager estimated losses of £1,400. The throng of looters flowed down Rye Lane, and Burls stopped outside Maestro, where he was identified sitting on a vehicle bonnet in Rye Lane. Then he is seen in Money Shop at around 6.55pm, leaving seven minutes later for the Post Office.

Footage from there show the door had been forced open and Burls returning with burning material, which he used to start a fire on the floor which he feeds with leaflets and other papers. Acting manager Isobel Martin said there was £55,000 of damage. At Regen’s shortly afterwards Burls can be seen outside the store which has had its shutters damaged already. A number of thugs can be seen attacking the shop on footage captured on residents’ mobiles above. A key witness saw Burls go in and set light to clothes with a lighter. The owner, who suffered up to £390,000 losses including £30,000 stock which was not covered by insurance, said he felt ‘hopeless’ as he watched the blaze take hold live on the television news. Next door, Greggs, which suffered £400,000 damage was ‘engulfed in fire’ which spread from Regen’s.

Shelley Griffith, defending, said Burls was expelled from school aged 11 and has only one previous conviction. He explained the 23-year-old’s involvement as being down to a ‘lack of maturity’ and added: ‘He was shocked when he saw the photographs. ‘I don’t think he realised in his mind, what he intended to do.' Southwark Council today welcomed the sentence and confirmed that Burls had voluntarily given up the tenancy of his council flat in Peckham. Peter John, leader of Southwark Council, said: 'I'm sure that many people who live and work in Peckham will be satisfied that this sentence is appropriate and reflects the seriousness of his crime and the impact it has had on the community.'

[Guest petercrotch]

Most have probably seen some of these but Just for laugh

Here's a few more people who got convicted .

[Creed Diskenth]

[The Somalian]

What a waste man. Was hoping he wernt black. But meh. I know certain man who moved big weights and got lighter sentences

[Mame Biram Diouf]

f

gf

v

cv

v

cv

c

the hobbit

[Meticulous]

smh i know that yout bottom left

instant recall for him

[The Flyest]

[Kurtis]

the one that looks like Mr Kiernan does not give a FUUUUCK

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

Fucking tramps

Get money ffs

Ain't that hard

[Supermalt]

would smash the lightie hobbit

yes deev

[Dipset]

11 years wow! deserved it though

[MARVELL]

More legal knee jerk reaction to what the country had coming for yrs

theres no way he deserves 11yrs for arson where no one died or was injured.

even murderers have received less. a white peado would never get half of that

but hey he black and its the lock 'em up season so why not.

[Niall Ferguson]

Most have probably seen some of these but Just for laugh

Here's a few more people who got convicted .

lmaosfnpnbg

pnbgpb

sdg\ng

dspibdig

BG

AG

the dude on the top left slyly favours Mad Vybez