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A MAN had attempted to burn down his family home, less than two months after completing a prison sentence for a previous arson conviction, the court heard.
In February, the 50-year-old labourer was sentenced to three years in prison for partially setting his brother’s room on fire, and was fined BD300 in damages.
The Sitra man stood trial as a ‘repeat offender’ before the High Criminal Court, which meant that his case was considered by judges in a less sympathetic light.
Despite issuing the Bahraini man a reduced sentence in his previous arson case, the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court upheld the ruling against him this time, and granted no concessions to the defence.
In November, the appellant, in a drugged-up haze, reportedly tried to burn his brother’s room, located in the house that he also lives in.
He was charged and convicted of burning possessions belonging to his brother and other heirs to the house, posing a danger to lives and property in an inhabited building.
“On the day of the incident, I was taking a nap, but was woken up by a thick smoke at 6.30pm,” the 43-year-old brother, who shares an address with the appellant, earlier testified.
“I ran to the bathroom, where I saw my brother, and realised that he was behind whatever was happening. The Civil Defence were called by our neighbours, and I let them in the house to take care of the fire.
“It isn’t the first time that my brother is doing such a thing – he is known to take drugs that lead him to hallucinate and then commit acts of arson.”
According to the Public Prosecution, the appellant was previously accused of a similar charge, and was found guilty in the case.
He was sentenced to three years in prison, which was slashed to one year by appeals judges. He was also fined for destruction of property.
The labourer was let out of prison last September, and nearly two months after being granted freedom, he went on to repeat the offence in November.
A Civil Defence report stated that the fire in the house, belonging to the appellant and his siblings (the heirs to the estate), was man-made.
“The defendant imagines or sees things that are not there, and he had done something like this before for which he was arrested, convicted and served time in prison,” the report said.
The ex-convict was denoted in trial documents as a ‘repeat offender’.
In Bahraini law, having an offence on record that is the same as the crime for which one is charged is considered an aggravating circumstance and leads to harsher sentencing.
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