Seven years in jail for setting Bahrain hotel on fire

TDT | Manama                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

The First High Criminal Court sentenced a young man to seven years in prison and fined him BD5,530 in damages caused to a hotel by setting a room he had booked on fire.

The defendant had exposed himself after harassing a policeman during operations to extinguish the flames. The incident began when the General Directorate of Civil Defence received a notice at dawn of a fire in a hotel in Manama near Bab Al-Bahrain.

The Civil Defence patrols headed to the location and the hotel guests were immediately evacuated. While steering road pedestrians away from the hotel front to preserve their safety, the defendant was seen near the entrance filming the crime scene.

When asked to move away, he did not respond and continued to film the scene, repeating incomprehensible phrases, which prompted the policeman to suspect him. At the police station, the defendant was asked to delete the footage of the incident.

Other clips he had previously filmed were examined, through which it was proven that the defendant had deliberately started the fire on the third floor by setting fire to a sponge mattress with a lighter.

The defendant admitted to his guilt and attended court sessions, one in which he presented his apology and asserted that he would never repeat the incident. However, his precedence record revealed that he had committed similar crimes in the past.