Jail for Skegness asylum seeker who started hotel blaze

Musba Missa set light to a sofa in the communal area of the Chatsworth Hotel on 8 May

An asylum seeker who started a fire in the Skegness hotel where he was being housed has been jailed for six months.

Musba Missa, 22, from Niger in West Africa, set light to a sofa in the communal reception area of the Chatsworth Hotel on 8 May.

Lincoln Crown Court heard that two days later he assaulted a security guard.

Missa had been in the UK for two years and had been frustrated with the progress of his asylum application, the court was told.

After starting the fire in the hotel, Missa became aggressive and tried to stop a security guard from putting it out.

The blaze was extinguished by another member of staff who entered the room and threw a bottle of water over the sofa, the court heard.

Despite his behaviour, Missa was allowed to stay in the hotel where, days afterwards, he assaulted a security guard.

Missa, who listened to the court hearing via a French interpreter, admitted two charges of arson and battery in relation to the offences.

'Cry for help'

Jeremy Janes, mitigating, told the court: "He is but 22. He has been in this country for two years and has struggled to progress his asylum claim, which he still expects to do."

Mr Janes said his client had become frustrated with the asylum process after a member of staff with whom he had built up a rapport was moved to another location.

The fire was a "cry for help", Mr Janes added.

Passing sentence, Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told Missa there was "a degree of persistence" in relation to his offending.

"You were seeking to get what you wanted by causing damage and risking real harm to others," she said.

"The custody threshold is clearly crossed," she said.