THE case of a convicted arsonist, who claimed he accidentally set fire to his father’s house while he was burning his romantic poetry and lyrical notes, has returned to court for an appeals trial.
The 48-year-old Bahraini man was last month sentenced to three years in jail for intentionally starting a fire in his Sitra family home, and was ordered to pay damages to the legal heirs of the house – his siblings.
The middle-aged poet is back at the courthouse after the Public Prosecution appealed against the verdict, asking judges to amend the judgement to specify how much in damages must be paid.
“There is a lack of clarity in the ruling, which is why it must be revised,” read the prosecution’s appeal memo.
“The new verdict should include a specific amount for the damages, while upholding the jail term.”
Yesterday, the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court adjourned the trial to next week for a verdict.
According to court documents from the initial High Criminal Court trial, the defendant started the fire in a traditional thatched palm leaf shack (areesh in Arabic) outside the house.
He was charged and eventually convicted with intentionally setting fire to an inhabited property and posing an active threat to people’s lives and possessions.
Thanks to the Civil Defence’s quick action, no one was injured during the incident, and the fire only destroyed the ‘areesh’ and an external window.
“I write poems, compose lyrics and draw on paper, and when I want to get rid of the writings I burn them,” the Sitra labourer earlier told prosecutors.
“On the day of the incident, I was doing just that outside the house, when the fire got out of control.”
Although the accused denied the charges in court, stating that he had taken prescription pills before the incident, he earlier admitted to them during police interrogations.
In a testimony, a neighbour claimed that when he saw the fire, he tried to alert the defendant but the arsonist ‘did not seem bothered by it’ and ‘didn’t want to put out the flames’.
In another prosecution interview, the defendant’s brother stated that ‘this isn’t the first time this happened’.
Based on these testimonies and official reports, the Bahraini man was sentenced to three years in jail.
Since the property belongs to the heirs of the defendant’s late father, the court also ordered him to pay them compensation for the damage cause by his actions.
The GDN earlier reported that a Civil Defence report additionally indicated that the fire was an arson, and ‘did not occur naturally, but was started by a person’.
Among several attempts made by the defence to acquit the man, his lawyer claimed in an earlier hearing that “he was not in control of his actions because he was under the effect of a medication”.
However, two evaluations at the Psychiatric Hospital found no mental issues.
“The defendant does not suffer from any mental or psychiatric disorders that render him not responsible for his conduct,” a medical report read.
A peek into the defendant’s police records showed a history of criminal accusations and convictions on record.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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