When using the lighter to light a drink carton on the top deck of Thornton's 607 service on October 9, 2023, the young man who could not name him due to his age was only 15 years old. did.
He then burns the carton and shows it to another passenger before throwing it.
The resulting flame caused “devastating” damage to the bus. This was rated at over £207,000 prior to the incident.
After the flames tore the top deck, the roof of a nearby bus shelter was heated, and the bus had to repair “severe fire damage” and the first bus exceeded 128,000 pounds.
The fire in his sister's bedroom “has become out of control,” causing major damage and required a temporary move to another property.
The report said he rang 999 after trying to put out the fire and panicked.
Bashir said the fire on the almost new bus happened around 3pm.
A college student, who was on the top deck of the bus along with other passengers, later told police he saw a “random man” sitting behind the bus on the right.
Witnesses saw the young man drinking from Levina's carton through a straw, and he continued to light it while he held the lighter and used it to swing it around.
The bus reached the final stop on Broadway and people were preparing to get off the youngsters, so they put the students on their shoulders.
Bashir said: “The defendant said to him, 'Do you want a present?' Holding an empty carton of Ribena. This is illuminated by flames appearing from the top half of it. He offered him a carton of Libena illuminated and was about to grab him. ”
Bashir said: “The defendant saw the flames approaching his fingers and held Libena's carton for a few seconds, then threw it into the right corner of the bus.
“(When the student stood up) the defendant called out to him, “It's bright. It's burning.' He got off the bus in hopes that the defendant would extinguish the flames… yet 20 people were bused. Considering that it's on the bike.”
Bashir said: “The fire spread and caused catastrophic damage to the upper deck of the bus.”
The young man was arrested by police at his Bradford home on November 25th. In the interview, he replied “no comments” to all questions, but he saw a smile and a smirk.
He later pleaded guilty to reckless arson about whether life was in danger.
To ease, Rachel Webster said the young man was a child and remains a child at the time of the incident.
She said: He had no intention of hurting anyone. He is a 15-year-old boy messing around with the back of the bus and his actions went too far. ”
The court states that after the teenager's “turbulence and emotional upbringing” isolated him and witnessed domestic incidents throughout his childhood, “lost individuals” accompanied by issues of self-identity and emotional safety I heard that he expressed it.
But Mrs. Webster said he was embarrassed and regretted, and grasped the enormousness of what he did.
She said: “He wants to be rehabilitated.”
Proclaiming him to rehabilitation of an 18-month-old youth, her honorary judge Sophie Maccone said:
“No one said you went to that bus with the intention of hurting anyone, but that was a possible outcome of what you did.
“You've set a fire before, so you need some targeted work to make sure you never do this again.
“But you need to understand that playing with fire has very serious consequences and you need to work on it.
“You made a poor decision, and you were impulsive. That's why you did it.”
When filing a rehabilitation order for supervised youth, Judge Maccone also ordered teenagers to participate in a six-month fire prevention program.
She warned him. “This is not a soft option. Take advantage of this opportunity you've been given.”
