A man has been jailed for setting fire to a historic Knaresborough pub and causing £15,000 worth of damage.
Stephen Pearson, of Pinhoe Road in Exeter, was charged with arson at Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.
He admitted the offence and was jailed for 31 months at York Crown Court this morning.
Pearson, who had grown up in the area, had been in Knaresborough for a week’s holiday to visit old places from his childhood.
The court heard how, because the weather was poor, the 45-year-old decided to go drinking in Wetherspoons.
At around 8.15pm, he went to Blind Jack’s pub where customers complained he had been handing out flyers from a bag.
Dan Cowdy, prosecuting, told the court that Pearson had been asked politely by bar staff to leave the premises.
He was described as “smelling of cannabis” and stumbling.
Mr Cowdy said:
“On his way out, he asked if [other customers] had complained about him.”
The court was told that Pearson then went to the Cross Keys pub and missed his train to Leeds.
As a result, he decided to sleep in the castle grounds and woke up at 4am.
‘Woke up cold and angry’
Mr Cowdy told the court that Pearson “woke up feeling cold and angry” and began walking back to Market Place.
On his way, he picked up a bin bag of paper and placed it in front of Blind Jack’s pub.
CCTV shown in court showed Pearson attempting to light the bag multiple times at 4.14am.
He then left and returned with a piece of paper at 4.27am, which he set fire to and used to ignite the bag before leaving the scene.
CCTV footage from the fire, which shows the bin bag in front of the pub.
The fire caused an estimated £15,235 worth of damage to the door, glass and signage of the pub.
The Grade II listed pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the industrial revolution.
The fire service extinguished the blaze and Pearson was arrested and later charged with arson.
Owners left feeling ‘unsafe and anxious’
Owners Christian and Alice Ogley were staying at a friend’s house at the time of the incident.
In a statement read out in court, Mr Ogley said then fire had left them “constantly checking” CCTV and feeling “unsafe and anxious”.
He said:
“We feel that the effect of this incident has made us feel unsafe.”
The court heard how during interviews with North Yorkshire Police, Pearson apologised and described himself as “an idiot”.
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He told officers that he did not intend to set fire to the pub itself, but wanted to leave the bag in front of the building as he was angry.
Mr Cowdy said:
“He assumed that the pub was empty and that no one lived there.”
Mitigating for Pearson, George Hazel-Owrem told the court that the 45-year-old had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
He added that Pearson had shown “genuine remorse” for his crime and had issues with alcoholism and homelessness.
Mr Hazel-Owrem said:
“It is plain that he has a number of serious issues, particularly with alcohol and as a consequence of that has been homeless for some time.
“He also suffers from depression and anxiety and has had suicidal ideation in the past.”
Sentencing Pearson, Judge Simon Hickey told him that the fire had a significant impact on the victims.
He said:
“As the owners have pointed out, it had a drastic effect of them and a knock-on effect as they came out of covid.”
However, he accepted that Pearson had shown remorse for his actions.
Pearson was jailed for 30 months for arson, plus an extra month to be served consecutively for assaulting an emergency worker in Devon while on bail for the Blind Jack’s offence.
He will serve half the sentence before being released on licence.