Teenage Kettering arsonist ordered to carry out unpaid work

A teenager who set fire to a bin at a Kettering park has been ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community.

Sanaan Ahmed admitted arson after fire crews were called to the Meadow Road recreation ground on October 22 last year.

The 18-year-old put a lit piece of paper inside the bin at about 9.10pm, leaving it unusable because of the damage.

Six days later Ahmed, of Station Road in Burton Latimer, was involved in an incident where a man was attacked in Kettering’s High Street.

During the assault, which involved a group of males, the victim was knocked unconscious and suffered a cut to the cheek.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to arson and assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared before magistrates in Northampton.

This month he was sentenced to a two-year community order with rehabilitation activities and 240 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay compensation of £450 to North Northamptonshire Council, compensation of £100 to the assault victim, court costs of £85 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £95.

The arson attack came during a spike in incidents in Kettering with 30 deliberate blazes in three months.

Kelly Crockett, an arson reduction co-ordinator with the Arson Task Force, had said: “These smaller fires in particular are becoming a regular occurrence and this is wasting both the time and resources of fire crews and neighbourhood policing teams. Diverting fire crews to deliberately started fires also means they could potentially miss an emergency incident where a life may be at risk.”

If you see a fire in progress, call 999.