ARCHIVED - British firestarter who torched Benidorm natural park is banned from entering Spain for 10 years
The 63-year-old will be expelled from Spain for a decade after deliberately starting three fires at Benidorm's Mirador de Sierra Helada
An arsonist convicted of deliberately torching a large section of a natural park in Benidorm has been identified as a 63-year-old British man who will be expelled from Spain at the end of May with a 10-year ban on re-entering the country.
In addition, the unnamed man, originally from Scotland, will have to pay a 7,000-euro fine and stump up 12,000 euros to cover the extensive fire extinguishing effort costs after he started three separate blazes near homes in the Mirador de Sierra Helada.
As a result of strong gusts of wind which fanned the flames and hampered firefighting crews, 2.5 hectares of shrubland and pine trees were destroyed in June 2022.
The prosecution initially requested a sentence of four years in prison for arson before the start of the oral hearing at the Provincial Court of Alicante on Thursday.
He was handed a three-year sentence. The convicted firestarter has been in custody since June 22 last year, and following an "advantageous agreement" reached with the defence, will be released soon and expelled.
Despite the fact that the fire razed around 25,000 m2 of vegetation to the ground+, the defence lawyer for the Briton argued that the environmental damage has been valued at only 179 euros. The biggest costs were indeed incurred tackling the wildfire.
The arsonist was arrested shortly after having set the fires, spotted by Benidorm Local Police "leaving the natural park area carrying tools necessary to start a fire" in his rucksack.
Despite a lengthy investigation, the motive for setting the fires remains a mystery. The 63-year-old, who has not been found to have any pathology affecting his abilities, never admitted his guilt until Thursday's trial.
Although a date of May 31 has been set for his deportation, the court has ruled he will remain in prison until his departure from the country materialises.
The defendant will have served 11 months and six days in prison by the end of May, almost a third of his three-year sentence.
Image: Consorcio Bomberos Alicante
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