Man guilty of starting fire in tower block stairway

A man has been found guilty of deliberately starting a fire inside the stairwell of a Bristol tower block, injuring six.

Israel Baber set a sofa on fire at Eccleston House, in Aiken Street, in the early hours of 20 October 2022.

The 37-year-old, who lived in the same complex, denied being involved but a jury at Bristol Crown Court found him guilty of arson which recklessly endangered life on Thursday.

Three people required hospital treatment due to the blaze, which caused more than £450,000 of damage.

The fire was started just after 06:00 GMT, with footage from CCTV and doorbell cameras showing Baber moving around the building at that time.

Residents were forced to evacuate through another staircase. While multiple people were treated for smoke inhalation, no one was seriously injured.

Senior Investigating Officer, Det Ch Insp Laura Miller said there could have been a "much worse outcome", describing Baber's actions as "hugely dangerous".

Baber claimed he was in his flat when the fire started, but this was disproved in court by a reconstruction of what he said had happened.

"The fire understandably caused residents a lot of alarm and Baber has refused at any stage to take accountability for his reckless actions," Det Ch Insp Miller added.

Baber has been remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing at the same court on 24 March.

Officer in the case, Det Con Michael Tarling, added that it "would be wrong not to draw attention to the community response to this incident", describing how Bristol City Council had helped set up rest centres at Tawfiq Masjid and Centre and St Patrick's Catholic Church.

"The support and engagement of the local community during our investigation has been instrumental in achieving this conviction, and we want to publicly recognise that because we are hugely grateful," he said.

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