Boy Who Set Fire to London Oratory Given Youth Referral Order
16-year-old remorseful after causing £2million worth of damage
Specialist equipment was deployed at the scene on Seagrave Road. Picture: London Fire Brigade
November 18, 2024
A 16-year-old boy who set fire to London Oratory School causing £2,000,000 worth of damage has been given a youth referral order.
He climbed onto the roof with a suicide note on 27 December last year and rang 999 saying he was going to kill himself.
He then started a fire which took hold of the school’s library and science block destroying 25,000 books. Over a thousand pupils missed at least a week of on-site education.
A hearing at Wimbledon Youth Court was told that repairs will not be completed until the next academic year.
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, kicked a police officer in the shin when he was arrested. He then claimed that the fire started accidentally when ash from a cigarette he was smoking fell on some pieces of paper.
Testimony was presented at the hearing about his mental health issues and that he was suffering from a depressive episode on the day of the fire.
He had no previous convictions and won praise from Youth Justices Services who he was reporting to over the last 11 months while he was on bail and subject to a curfew.
He expressed remorse to the court saying he was not the same person as he was a year ago. His family had rallied round and his mother said that his mental health had significantly improved.
He had pleaded guilty to arson and was found guilty at trial of assaulting an emergency worker but was cleared of the more serious charge of arson with recklessness for endangering life.
The judge concluded that there was a low risk of reoffending and that therefore any sentence including detention would be counterproductive. He gave the boy youth referral order for ten months, with a list of requirements to work with the youth offending team.
He was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to the police officer he kicked and a £26 victim surcharge.
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