Man 'watched by demons' set fire to council flat in bid to burn evil spirits

A JUDGE jailed a man for public protection after hearing he started a fire in his council flat because voices in his head told him to do so.

Ernest Shavers set papers and clothes alight in the bedroom of his flat in Andrew House, Water Lane, Farsley, Leeds before locking up and leaving.

The alarm was raised when a neighbour saw smoke from a window and the fire brigade had to break in to extinguish the blaze last September, Adrian Robinson, prosecutinig, told Leeds Crown Court.

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After he was arrested, Shavers said demons were watching him and he wanted to burn the evil spirits in his flat so he could go to heaven with his mother and father.

The court heard he had a history of fire raising in the 1980s which led to four custodial sentences and he had spent nine years in Rampton Hospital.

Shavers, 50, admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Sentencing him yesterday Judge Paul Hoffman said Shavers was a continuing danger because he was "totally unpredictable". Imposing an indeterminate sentence for public protection he ordered Shavers to serve a minimum of four years 209 days before he can apply for parole but warned that was unlikely to lead to his release then.

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"You need to be locked up for a very long time indeed. You are and are likely to remain a very significant danger to the public for many years to come if not indefinitely."

Mr Robinson told the court fortunately the fire was restricted to the bedroom. Shavers said his voices had told him then to go and he had visited Blackpool and Edinburgh before returning to Leeds.

Michael Walsh for Shavers said fortunately because a neighbour saw the smoke it did not turn into a tragic incident for those living nearby.

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