Ross Lidbetter

ross.lidbetter@essnmedia.co.uk

ARSONIST Krzysztof Maciejkiewicz started two blazes that could have had tragic consequences – then stood and watched firefighters put them out.

It remains a mystery as to why the 28-year-old lit a fire on the top floor of 14-storey City House on London Road – the former Philips building – and another at garages in nearby Campbell Road, Broad Green.

Maciejkiewicz, of Broad Green Avenue, Broad Green, was jailed for three years on Friday after admitting two charges of arson.

Karen Boyes, prosecuting, told the court it was just after midday on April 15 when Maciejkiewicz used pieces of paper and a lighter to set fire to an exit door and a stairwell at City House.

From there he went to Campbell Road and started the second blaze.

Thick black smoke from the second fire could be seen from central Croydon, but, fortunately, nobody was injured in either incident.

Miss Boyes told the court: "When arrested, he admitted he had watched the firemen.

"Other than the fact he had been drinking vodka, there doesn't seem to be any explanation for what he did.

"In an interview at the police station, little was added, because there is no explanation put forward by him."

Matthew Dance, defending, said Maciejkiewicz, who the court heard is married and has a nine-year-old son, had been drinking alcohol to relieve stomach pains.

"The fires were relatively small and had been extinguished before the Fire Brigade got there," Mr Dance told the court.

When sentencing him, Judge Simon Pratt told the arsonist, who was of previous good character: "I find it worrying that there remains no reason, apart from drunkenness, as to why you committed these offences.

"It is also worrying that you sat near enough to the fires to see the Fire Brigade arrive.

"Fortunately, the fire in City House did not take hold, otherwise there might have been tragic results to firefighters at least, if not to innocent occupants."