Wootton Bassett burglar set fire to Lyneham flat
16th July 2011
Gazette and Herald
www.gazetteandherald.co.uk
A man who burgled a friend’s flat in Lyneham to get cash and drugs, then torched the place to destroy the evidence, has been jailed for 18 months.

Simon Buckland, 22, of Showfield, Wootton Bassett, broke in when he found his friend was out. He set the curtains alight and neighbours in the six-flat block had to flee for their lives after smelling smoke.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that on February 12 the victim was out with his partner when he got a call to say his flat was on fire.

Buckland had gone to the block in Pound Close, hoping to get some cannabis but found no one was in. He used a wooden pole to force his way in, taking £40 and some drugs. Realising he may have left incriminating evidence, he lit the curtains then fled.

Miss Squire said Shofique Miah, from the flat above, raised the alarm after smelling burning and seeing smoke come under his door. She said that as he got out of the building he was beginning to suffer the effects of smoke inhalation.

Buckland was soon arrested and claimed he was with someone else who committed the offences. But witnesses said they only saw one person.

Buckland pleaded guilty to a charge of arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, and burglary.

John Weatherall, defending, said Buckland had no previous convictions. He said after a difficult upbringing, which included some time in foster care, his client was found to have degenerative disease in an ear. After a series of operations, he used cannabis to mask the pain and got into debt to dealers.

Jailing him, Judge Douglas Field said “If that fire had not been put out as quickly as it had, there was a real risk that it would have spread and we would have other occupants who would have been put at risk. This paints a very, very, serious picture.”