Three who set fire to homeless man in Devon sentenced

Adam Scott, 23, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Exeter Crown Court

A man has been jailed and two teenagers have received detention orders for setting fire to a homeless person.

Adam Scott, 23, and 16-year-olds Matthew Ogden and Quinn Britton set light to a pizza box and put it under the sleeping bag of Robert Newton, 71.

Mr Newton, who was asleep at Pannier Market, Barnstaple in December, escaped unhurt after a passer-by came to his aid.

The defence said all three had taken a legal high.

Scott, of no fixed abode, and Ogden and Britton, both from Barnstaple, admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Scott was jailed for two-and-a-half years, while Ogden and Britton both received 12-month detention and training orders.

The incident was captured on CCTV which showed Scott, Ogden and Britton twice trying to set fire to Mr Newton's sleeping bag, before returning a third time to try to set light to Mr Newton's wheelchair, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Passer-by Lauren Stevenson pulled the burning material away from Mr Newton and later told police Scott had dared Ogden and Britton to place it on or under the sleeping bag.

Judge Graham Cottle said: "Somehow, all of you thought it would be a bit of a laugh to set fire to this sleeping man. It was a mindless act of anti-social behaviour which ran the risk of a fatality.

"It may well have done so but for the intervention of a person who did so not once but twice, as can be seen on the CCTV. All three of you ran away with the piece of cardboard alight."

He ordered that Ogden and Britton, both of Barnstaple, should be publicly identified because of the seriousness of the offence.