Haslingden caravan arsonist to face judge (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Haslingden caravan arsonist to face judge

10:00pm Wednesday 20th February 2013 in News

AN arsonist who started a blaze which gutted the caravan he was living in in the early hours last July, is awaiting sentence.

Kenneth Hewitt, 43, was due to learn his fate last Friday at Burnley Crown Court, but the case was adjourned.

He will now be dealt with by Judge Jonathan Gibson at Preston Crown Court in March.

Hewitt, of no fixed address, but living off Grane Road, Haslingden, at the time, has admitted arson.

He has been on remand for seven months.

The hearing was told the defendant was said to have a history of setting fires, including at the same site.

In 2007, he started a blaze at his mother’s home and trashed the lounge after a row over loud music.

He was said to have sat calmly smoking a cigarette while the fire took hold.

A neighbour, alerted by Mary Hewitt’s smoke alarm, was confronted with smoke pouring from the terrace house in Haslingden and had trouble seeing when he dashed inside to help.

Hewitt, then living in Bacup, admitted arson and damage and had been locked up for 15 months.