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An unemployed man with a history of drug abuse has been sentenced to three years behind bars for setting fire to a garage door of a home in Hidd.
The High Criminal Court yesterday found the 42-year-old Bahraini guilty of arson and destruction of private property.
He was also fined BD2,105 in damages.
Security cameras captured the actions of the accused pouring fuel on the garage and igniting it.
Policemen were swift in tracking the defendant, who ran off to a nearby apartment building and were able to arrest him.
However, the man appeared to be ‘in an intense rage’, and threatened police officers to set them on fire, too.
His lawyer claimed that his erratic behaviour rendered him ‘not responsible’ for his actions, and requested that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Though a panel of psychiatrists stated that he had a history of misusing mind-altering drugs, they still deemed him fit to stand trial.
The man was convicted of arson and property damage based on the video evidence, a Civil Defence report stating that the fire was man-made, and the forensics team finding traces of fuel on his clothes.
The GDN earlier reported that the house’s owner was not at home at the time of the incident, but received a phone call from a friend who spotted smoke coming from the direction of the property.
The 35-year-old Bahraini rushed back from work, and with his friend’s help, managed to put out the fire partially and keep it from spreading until firemen arrived and put out the flames.
A neighbour, who is an off-duty police officer, also joined the two in their efforts to stop the fire from spreading to other parts of the house, using water buckets.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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