MAN SET FIRE TO HIS FLAT 'TO SMOKE OUT NINJAS'
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10:15 - 15 August 2006
A man suffering from hallucinations set fire to his flat to smoke out "the Ninjas" hiding under his bed, Leicester Crown Court heard.
Stanley Turner suffered the temporary delusional illness when trying to wean himself off alcohol.
The fire caused almost £17,000 damage to the flat where he lived and the one below, in High Street, Oakham.
Mark Watson, prosecuting, said at 6am, on March 27, this year, the neighbour in the flat below heard banging and then saw the defendant outside. The 45-year-old told her there was a small fire and kept insisting he could see a woman in the hallway, when no-one was there.
The fire service arrived to find the bedroom on fire. Turner told a fire officer he had also set alight a toilet roll in the flat to "smoke out Ninjas from under his bed".
He was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary and was an in-patient for four days. When interviewed on March 31, he told officers he had been tormented by hallucinations of people in his flat and started the blaze to get rid of them.
He claimed to have drunk four cans of cider beforehand. A binge drinker, he gave up spirits to drink wine and then changed to cider.
"Temporary psychosis was induced by the alcohol and the manner in which he'd changed his tipple," said Tamia Tago, defending.
Turner, who admitted arson, received a 52-week jail sentence, suspended for two years, and a supervision order, which will include assistance with his drink problem.
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Iron Maiden- "Running Free"
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