Isaac Shozi, 50, has pleaded guilty to arson after setting several fires in east London the day after the Government sent out an emergency alert warning of the heightened risk of wildfires.
At Wood Green Crown Court on Monday, Shozi admitted starting the fires but denied a more serious charge of arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.
Fires in London Fields
Shozi, of Bodney Road, Hackney, is charged with starting “a number of fires” in London Fields, an area of parkland owned by Hackney Council, on August 15.
Outlining the charges in court, prosecution barrister Justin Bearman said: “It was a number of fires set in a parkland, which, because of the particular weather conditions at the time, had the possibility of flaring up to cause a potential risk to life.”
He added that the fires were set “at a time which an emergency Government warning had gone out”.
Government alert and arrest
On August 14, the Government sent an alert to mobile phone users in England and Wales, warning of a “very high risk of wildfires nationally”, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham described Britain as a “tinderbox”.
Barkingside Magistrates’ Court previously heard Shozi lit the fires at around 4.30am on August 15, and was arrested at 5.18am after being found in possession of two lighters in the style of a “blowtorch”.
The defendant told the court the fires were a “cry for help” and claimed he did not receive the Government’s emergency alert issued the day before.
Court proceedings
Paul Nagle, prosecuting, said Shozi told police he started 11 fires to get the police to “turn up and help him”, adding: “This was his way to obtain help.”
Shozi, he added, claimed to have started the fires only in “secluded areas” and when the authorities challenged him he “simply laughed and said that he was not stupid”.
Shozi was remanded in custody to appear at the same court on October 12. Judge Emma Deacon KC told the prosecution to decide whether to seek a trial on the charge of arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.
