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Sussex Police hunt cash raid arsonist (From The Argus)
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Sussex Police hunt cash raid arsonist
10:18am Thursday 30th August 2012 in News By Ben James & Siobahn Ryan
Firefighters at Crawley Hospital after the last arson attack
Police are hunting an arsonist who set fire to a hospital so he could raid cash tills as the building was being evacuated.
Officers believe the suspect could be linked to three similar distraction blazes over the past week.
A fire chief has warned the arsonist, who made off with cash from each incident, could kill if he is not stopped.
Mark Rist, Brighton and Hove Borough Commander, has urged the public to help catch the offender before he seriously hurts or even kills someone.
He said: “Fires are so unpredictable and the suspect has no way of knowing what the outcome of his actions might be.”
The first of three blazes in Brighton was started at the Royal Albion Hotel at 2pm on Sunday, August 26.
Mark Rist, Brighton and Hove Borough Commander
The suspect may only be intending to distract but they don’t know what can happen. They are showing a blatant disregarded for the safety of others
It was followed by fires at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery in Pavilion Gardens shortly after noon on Monday, August 27 and at The Sea Life Centre at 4.30pm the same day.
On all three occasions, fire alarms were activated and evacuations carried out.
Money taken
When staff returned to the buildings it was discovered money had been taken from tills.
A fourth fire was started in a store room at Crawley Hospital on Tuesday, August 28 where cash was stolen from the canteen till.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: “Damage was very limited and there were no injuries, but detectives in Brighton and Crawley are actively investigating the circumstances of each incident and are pursuing joint lines of inquiry.
“But we are currently keeping an open mind as to whether there are definite links between them.”
The Crawley Hospital fire, which was started on the sixth floor, saw hundreds of patients, doctors and nurses evacuated on Tuesday.
The blaze completely destroyed the Comet ward’s store room with smoke and water damage also affecting the it.
Most services are back to normal but the ward, which is made up of a medical day unit, haematology clinic and a chemotherapy clinic, is expected to stay closed for the rest of this week.
A spokeswoman for NHS Sussex said: “Alternative arrangements are in place to accommodate any affected appointments. Every effort is being made to contact as soon as possible patients who are due to use the affected service.”
Commander Rist added: “The suspect may only be intending to distract but they don’t know what can happen. They are showing a blatant disregarded for the safety of others.
“I would ask them to think if whatever they are getting out of this is worth the risk?”
Anyone with information about the the fires should contact police on 101.
Comments(22)
BrightonMummy
says...
11:50am Thu 30 Aug 12
willy harris
says...
12:44pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Tailgaters Anonymous
says...
1:02pm Thu 30 Aug 12
MuammarQaddafi
says...
1:28pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Cycling commuter
says...
1:56pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Tailgaters Anonymous wrote:That is a really amazing idea. I'm sure they wouldn't have.. Truly inspirational.
Have our favourite force thought to check what CCTV is in place at any of these venues or perhaps their own facilities erected at huge cost to the rate-payer will show the alleged villains?
minnie&teddy
says...
2:59pm Thu 30 Aug 12
minnie&teddy
says...
2:59pm Thu 30 Aug 12
AmboGuy
says...
3:04pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Tailgaters Anonymous wrote:Have you read a different report to the rest of us? Did it say that the police didn't check the CCTV?
Have our favourite force thought to check what CCTV is in place at any of these venues or perhaps their own facilities erected at huge cost to the rate-payer will show the alleged villains?
Stop trolling and wind your neck in.
RogerWQ
says...
3:28pm Thu 30 Aug 12
On the other hand, CCTV did seem to help in identifying people involved in the riots last year, so you could be onto something ... hmmmm - but have they got the staff needed to go through thousands of images, when there is not much to be gained revenue-wise? doh.
Tailgaters Anonymous
says...
3:44pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Handle says it all and perhaps the irony missed you by when you were entering your droll note!
Tailgaters Anonymous
says...
3:46pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Unbias
says...
4:18pm Thu 30 Aug 12
minnie&teddy wrote:Very diplomatic and well said M & T
words fail us,well we could say a good few but we won't!! these scumbags want whipping and putting on hard labour for the rest of their lives.
I only hope......WHEN.....c
aught they get all their crimes heard on merit, I doubt that will happen though.
This is a sick and nasty scumbag.
RogerWQ
says...
4:27pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Unless we are all the same person trolling ourself ....
Anyway a heightened sense of awareness and alertness might help to stop this arsonist in their tracks before someone does get hurt.
There is too much arson around.
emma barnes
says...
4:55pm Thu 30 Aug 12
e? http://www.kentonlin
e.co.uk/kentonline/n
ews/2012/august/30/h
ospital_fire.aspx
Unbias
says...
5:31pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Now for all the jokers the Police will obviously look at CCTV!!
Now they can have a clue should it be the same person, before this it's pointless looking at the footage unless someone walked around with a flaming torch!.
I so hope this isn't a 'copy-cat' crime where the criminal thinks the same...there surely isn't Two so sad sicko's.
emma barnes
says...
9:41pm Thu 30 Aug 12
http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/uk-england-ken
t-19427663
Thatsjustyummy
says...
10:12pm Thu 30 Aug 12
Unbias wrote:This is unlikely to be a copycat crime as this would seem to be the first time the separate incidents have been publicly linked.
Well spotted Emma...
Now for all the jokers the Police will obviously look at CCTV!!
Now they can have a clue should it be the same person, before this it's pointless looking at the footage unless someone walked around with a flaming torch!.
I so hope this isn't a 'copy-cat' crime where the criminal thinks the same...there surely isn't Two so sad sicko's.
Whoever is doing this has obviously, at this stage, got away with it lightly in that there have been no publicised injuries or fatalities.
The offender is however developing a worrying confidence that this trick seems to somehow work. Often the case with serial offenders. Until something goes horrifically wrong.
I am sure that Sussex Police are already cross-referencing known offenders with both theft and arson convictions/cautions locally but looking at the venues chosen I'd suggest they look further afield as I don't reckon this offender is a) new to this type of offence and b) local. Big, easy, PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE targets with correct evacuation procedures in place for fire are there for everyone to see.
In a hospital it wouldn't take a huge amout of cunning to find a white coat a wander around un-challenged. Keep this near to, or within easy reach of cash tills and the offender really haas come up with a clever, though completely irresponsible, plan.
We can hypothesise for ever and eternity but this offender REALLY needs to be stopped before their own growing confidence in this crime escalates and people WILL die.
So, any CID reading this, look at seemingly similar offences in other areas (this type of offence does not magic itself from thin air). Look at major urban connurbations primarily, probably within a days travel time.
At this stage the offender will probably be disguised in some way or another, as their confidence grows this will slip to a stage where they will WANT to be recognised.
Look for similarities on CCTV about stance, gait and signs of nervousness.
anything else you need help with, let me know.
Just catch the little **** before anything worse happens.
RogerWQ
says...
11:57pm Thu 30 Aug 12
If they performed the Lock The Tills Drill (LTTD), there would be no incentive for the arsonist to start the fires.
Advice to Arsonist: You would probably achieve the same results by just Breaking The Glass to set off the alarms without starting fires, and likely get a shorter sentence than if you murder people.
emma barnes
says...
9:24am Fri 31 Aug 12
AmboGuy
says...
10:07am Fri 31 Aug 12
Tailgaters Anonymous wrote:Funny really. One notorious troll stops posting on here and a few days later a new user name pops up for the first time spouting the same old rubbish. Coincidence??
Ambo guy - at least I have a neck. Seems yours has all but disappeared into the gutter!
RogerWQ
says...
11:25am Fri 31 Aug 12
then may I suggest not only locking the tills, but also the tills should have been secured so that they cannot be carried off so easily.
It seems like a no-brainer to me, and from what I have seen, people pick up their bags and smartphones and finish their coffee before legging it when alarms go off, unless flames are actually licking round their ankles.
Crystal Ball says...
10:41am Thu 30 Aug 12