Patient set fire to Dudley psychiatric unit

Smoke was billowing from Alex Stinton’s room and flames could be seen inside it at Bushey Fields Hospital in Dudley on November 11, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The 31-year-old defendant was caught out by the speed with which the blaze spread after igniting a pile of paper and clothes on the floor, explained Mr Mark Phillips, prosecuting.

Stinton, who had dismantled a smoke detector in the room before starting the fire with a cigarette lighter, was unconscious after being overcome by the fumes.

“Four members of staff went into the room to rescue him rather than wait for the fire service to arrive and their bravery prevented more serious injury or worse for the defendant,” continued the prosecutor.

Twenty one patients and five staff were evacuated from the building. Some, including those who had saved the defendant, needed treatment for smoke inhalation, the court heard.

Stinton, whose long standing abuse of alcohol and cannabis had accelerated the descent into mental illness, locked himself in his room on the morning of the fire but staff managed to get in with a pass key. Mr Phillips disclosed: “He was abusive to them but there was nothing unusual about that, so they left him after a check up.”

The defendant lit the fire soon afterwards after disabling the smoke detector and wedging open the door with one of his trainers. This indicated he was not attempting suicide but wanted to be found, it was said.

Fire crews quickly extinguished the blaze which caused ‘significant’ fire damage to his room and smoke damage to other areas of the Bushey Fields Road building.

Mr Phillips concluded: “Fortunately the emergency was dealt with quite quickly and thankfully there were no serious injuries. We do not have a figure for the damage.”

Stinton, of no fixed address, who pleaded guilty to arson while reckless as to whether life was endangered, was locked up for three years nine months with a hybrid hospital limitations direction.

He will be held under treatment in a medium secure mental hospital until his recovery is such that he can serve the remainder of his sentence in prison.

Judge Barry Berlin told him: “Brave members of staff saved you from death. It was a total act of mercy, putting their lives at risk to rescue you.”