'Delusional' man set fire to his Corby HMO so police would come out to 'burglary' he had invented

The fire at Soar Green on the Shire estate caused extensive damage to the upstairs room in the house of multiple occupation.

Lithuanian occupant Vygintas Karenga, 40, had been drinking with his pal Edgars Garancs in Mr Garancs’s bedroom during the early evening of Saturday, August 31 this year.

At 7pm Mr Garnacs left Karenga in his room while he popped out of the house.

But forklift driver Karenga then texted his landlord to say there was a thief trying to get into the property to steal his things.

Northampton Crown Court heard at a sentencing hearing on Thursday (December 19) that at 8.20pm an alarm went off in the house, which had other occupants inside. The fire brigade was called and arrived at 8.30 to find the upstairs bedroom on fire.

Prosecuting, Andy Peet said: “It could have been very different had the house not had fire alarms and had the fire brigade not been able to respond as fast as they did.”

A fire investigation showed that the blaze had been deliberately started at the foot of the bed, and that the mattress had subsequently caught fire.

Karenga, who arrived in the UK seven years ago, had been drinking and smoking cannabis all day. Police found him hiding in the bathroom.

In interview he told police that someone had been trying to get into the house and had stolen his iPad, and that he had called 999 but got no response. He said he then started the fire in order to get a response from the emergency services.

Later examination of his phone records showed that he had never phoned 999.

Mr Peet said: “In interview, he was either misguided or naive or delusional when he said that the fire was under his control and he could have extinguished it at any time.

"Those of us who deal with these cases frequently can attest that fires are anything but predictable.”

The landlords had since had to spend £3,500 repairing the damage to the house.

In mitigation, the court heard that Karenga had only one previous conviction for criminal damage and that it was a ‘foolish moment’ on his part. A psychiatric report showed no serious mental health issues.

He admitted one charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane sentenced Karenga to a three year prison term.

Mr Garancs was later in court to admit a stalking charge that happened after his room was set on fire.