Published date: 29 December 2015 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
ARSONISTS in Wrexham have been warned they are running the risk of a life prison sentence as a consequence of their actions.
North Wales Chief Constable Mark Polin said the fires were putting lives at risk and urged those responsible for them to stop.
But he admitted it was a “pattern of behaviour” the force was struggling to comes to terms with due to its unpredictable nature.
Mr Polin said: “It is sporadic, which makes it more difficult to deal with. It is hard to predict and plan against.
“We do seek to identify those who are committing these offences.
“There is a potential threat to life that could arise from these fires. There is a lot of work done by the arson reduction team to try and tackle them.
“We have apprehended a number of individuals and after the last spate, a man was charged as a result of our investigation.
“The problem is it seems to be a pattern of behaviour in Wrexham that we are struggling to break.
“ I would encourage those responsible to recognise that by doing this, they are putting peoples’ lives at risk.
“There is a fine line between arson and arson with intent to endanger life and when you get to that point, you could be looking at life in prison. Intelligence and information is always helpful and some of those responsible will be known in their communtiies.
“There is not much we can do in preventative terms but we would encourage people to take steps to discourage arsonists, for example by not letting collections of rubbish build up.”
l Yesterday the Leader revealed that fire crews in North Wales have attended more than 1,000 arson incidents in Wrexham and Flintshire since 2013.
The figures, uncovered by the Leader using Freedom of Information laws found between January 2013 and October this year, there were 756 arson incidents in Wrexham and 450 in Flintshire.
Of those, 301 incidents in Wrexham and 114 in Flintshire were classed as ‘primary fires’, which includes fires in buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures, or any fire involving casualties, rescues or fires attended by five or more appliances.
Paul Scott, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service community safety manager for Wrexham and Flintshire, said: “Deliberate fires are a serious issue. Not only can they be extremely upsetting for those affected but they can cause serious damage and potentially be life-threatening.
“These incidents not only put the community at risk but also waste the resources of the emergency services which could be put to use elsewhere.”
see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/156602/you-re-risking-life-jail-sentence-arsonists-in-wrexham-warned.aspx
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