Aberystwyth hotel arsonist killer jailed for 16 years
- Published
Footage shows a fatal arson attack in progress
A man who killed a hotel guest after setting fire to the building has been jailed for 16 years.
Damion Harris, 31, of Llanbadarn Fawr, admitted the manslaughter of Juozas Tunaitis, 48, arson and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Belgrave House Hotel in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, burned down in July after Harris started two separate fires.
He was given a 16-year custodial sentence and five years on license at Swansea Crown Court.
Judge Paul Thomas said Harris had entered the hotel for a "malicious purpose."
"You set not one but two separate fires," he told Harris.
"Having set those fires you then deliberately removed a fire extinguisher. That, Mr Harris, was a wicked thing to do."
Damion Harris pleaded guilty to manslaughter
Mr Tunaitis was staying in the hotel while working as a fire safety officer at Aberystwyth University.
His remains were identified by investigators through DNA tests almost two months later, on 10 September.
In victim impact statements read to the court, Mr Tunaitis's mother, Kazimieros, said her son's "tragic death" left her unable to sleep.
She said her son helped to support her financially by sending money back to Lithuania.
"I see my son in my dreams," she said. "I don't know how to carry on living."
Richard Simnett, 42, who was staying with his partner and their two young children on the hotel's top floor, fell 11m (35ft) from the roof while trying to drag his partner to safety.
He said he was lucky to be alive, but lived in constant pain as a result of his injuries.
Richard Simnett talks about the moment he fell off a hotel roof while the building was on fire
The remains of Juozas Tunaitis were identified through DNA tests
In a statement to the court he said his boys, aged four and five, now woke up "screaming" in the night.
He said one of his children had even written to Father Christmas, asking him to help with his injuries.
"[He wrote] Dear Santa, I don't want anything for Christmas. Please can my daddy have a new body."
Mr Simnett suffered four fractured vertebrae, seven broken ribs and fractures to his arm, collar bone and sternum.
"I remember it all happening and relive it often," he said.
Many people jumped across balconies to escape to neighbouring properties
The fire could be seen from across the town
Judge Thomas said Mr Simnett's actions probably saved his family's lives.
"[The children] must have been petrified," he added.
Nadin Radford QC, defending, said her client was deeply sorry for what he had done, but could offer no explanation for his actions while "undoubtedly" drunk.
She said his decision to start two fires with his cigarette lighter was inexplicable and "doesn't really make a great deal of sense".
Judge Thomas said: "No one knows why you did it. You showed a very high degree of recklessness, just short of murder."
The hotel fire happened in July 2018
- Published4 March 2019
- Published5 March 2019
