Arsonist asylum seeker facing deportation

Ahmed Ali (23), an Iranian Kurd, had been given the flat by Rotherham Borough Council after fleeing his home country in 2005 when he was tortured.

He admitted arson at the flat on Lady Oak Road, Dalton, claiming shadowy men were after him.

Giving Ali a suspended jail term, Judge Peter Kelson told him: “Given that this country extended to you a flat of your own and you repaid this country by destroying that flat, I am mindful and content that deportation provisions should be considered by the Secretary of State.”

Sheffield Crown Court heard that any sentence of more than 51 weeks in prison would trigger deportation proceedings.

Mrs Elizabeth Martin, prosecuting, said Ali had lived alone in the council flat since February, 2010.

But in the early hours of Tuesday, September 14, he rang the police in an agitated state asking to speak to someone from the immigration department claiming his life was in danger.

He said two cars had been acting suspiciously outside his home but he did not want the police round.

An officer spoke to him by phone and Ali said people were following him and he was hiding outside his flat. The call ended abruptly when Ali swore and said he had to get back inside his flat.

At about 1am, the fire service received a 999 call from the defendant saying his flat was ablaze.

Investigators found that the fire had been started deliberately on a bed in the living room.

It had started 20 to 30 minutes before the 999 call, coinciding with Ali ending his phone call.There were no signs of forced entry and Ali had no signs of smoke inhalation.

When arrested, he told police he had seen a car and people acting suspiciously and then saw fire flickering in his flat. He spotted someone leaving the kitchen and initially denied starting the blaze.

Mrs Martin said that Ali had been set up with living essentials and furniture and the fire had destroyed the property and its contents.

He came to the UK in 2005 but in October, 2006, was refused an application for asylum.

In April, 2007, he was reprimanded for an assault and he had been given fixed penalty notices five times for causing damage, being drunk and disorderly and  threatening behaviour.

Mr John Hillis, defending, said that Ali was arrested by the authorities in Iran when he was 16 or 17 and still had the scars on his body from being tortured.

He had been receiving medication for depression and was acting strangely before the fire. He had been on remand since and had effectively served a 12-month custodial sentence.

Judge Kelson said he would have passed a two-year jail term but took into account the time he had already served.

He had sympathy after reading reports that Ali had been subject to “unthinkable torture” in Iran and he had mental health problems.

“Nobody reading the reports of your suffering could fail to be moved by them but the extent of my mercy is that you don’t have to spend any more time in prison,” the judge said.

Judge Kelson gave Ali a 12-month jail term suspended for two years with a two-year supervision order attached.

He warned Ali: “If you commit any further offences within the next two years and you remain in this country, then you will start a 12-month prison sentence.”