Inmate who set fire to cell gets two years' jail

An inmate who set fire to his cell is sentenced to two years in jail.

DUBAI // An inmate who set fire to his cell at Al Qusais police station was today sentenced to two years in jail.

ME, a 31-year-old Emirati, who is also standing trial on a charge of setting fire to a solitary confinement cell during a separate incident, put the lives of 200 other detainees at risk by starting the fire, ruled the Dubai Criminal Court. He also caused Dh150 worth of damage to public property.

On October 1, 2010, he set fire to two blankets on Ward B with a cigarette lighter, though it was unclear how he got hold of this lighter.

Policeman rushed to the ward to put out the fire after noticing heavy smoke at about 2.30am. The fire was so severe it caused the paint on the ward's walls and its phone booths to melt.

During an earlier hearing the court heard the prisoner suffers from a psychiatric disorder and often caused problems by demanding greater quantities of the medication prescribed to him by the police clinic.

ME is also on trial for a fire that started on November 27, 2010, and has already been sentenced to six months in prison for starting a third fire and attempting suicide.