Looter Jailed For 11 Years Over Riots Blaze
 

Gordon Thompson has been sentenced to 11-and-a-half years in prison for setting fire to the Reeves furniture store in Croydon during the London riots.

Thompson, 34, was sentenced at the Old Bailey for arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered and burglary.

He was part of a mob which had rampaged through Croydon town centre, looting Iceland and House of Fraser, before turning his attention to family-run House of Reeves.

The blaze was so fierce that buildings on the other side of the street and tramlines in the road caught alight.

Judge Peter Thornton told Thompson: "This was a deliberate, wilful act of shocking, dangerous vandalism."

"The Reeves family lost their historic business, something they and generations before had lived and worked for all their lives.

"Their loss is priceless. The trauma they have suffered is inestimable."

The business had begun trading on the site in 1867, and became such a part of the South London area that the road was named after the store.

Initially Thompson stole a laptop from inside the shop, then borrowed a cigarette lighter from another rioter and stepped inside what had been a display window, and set light to a sofa.

As the flames spread he boasted to a passer-by: "It was me. I did that. I burned Reeves Corner."

The inferno lit up the South London skyline, attracting the attention of the Skycopter which beamed live pictures which were seen around the world.


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...0_1967393c.jpg


It became one of the defining images of the riots.

And the flames were so intense they leapt across the road and threatened nearby flats.

Members of the Reeves family were at the Old Bailey to see Thompson sentenced.

Outside the court Maurice Reeves, the owner of the furniture shop, said it was a "fair judgement".

"It has to be a deterrent," he said.

Earlier, his son Trevor told Sky News: "He (Thompson) just seems to be a person who's got caught up with the riots and has done something really stupid.

"I can't possibly imagine what goes through someone's mind to make them do that, especially as you're local and probably know what the place is, and what the place means to people.

"It's beyond my comprehension."

The court heard that the total financial loss to the Reeves family was an estimated £3 million.


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And deservedly so....

Good.

fair enough

I cannot believe someone could boast about it, let alone start it. What goes through their minds? I wish such people would just stop and think sometimes about the detrimental consequence their actions could have on others. It just beggars belief.

I think that's the problem really, that they don't see their victims as real people and think about how they would feel if someone destroyed all their things.

Serves him right mindless thug, had no regard for peoples safety, property or belongings...

Nice.

One of most just sentences I've seen in a while, it has to be said.

Bloody Right


Punk Thug

11 years is extreme tbh.

Try looking at it through the store owner's eyes

he won't serve that long anyway

11 years may seem extreme to some but I am just glad about one thing as to these riots offenders, especially this one.
That is that it seems to have in part been taken into account what could have happened,that it was very fortunate no one was in the building or that people living nearby didn't lose any of their lives.

Supposition is not a usual part of court procedure but it would seem the possible effects of what may have happened.(such as loss of lives or injuries to others), and just by chance did not, was in part at least considered in this case and duly sentenced on.

How great it would be if for other crimes like abduction/kidnap for instance, if we could get 'intent' added as a further offence to whatever charge was originally made.

just burn the mongrel,

:crazy:

"Judge Thornton sentenced Thompson to 11 years and six months for arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered, two years for burgling House of Fraser, two years for burgling Iceland and three years for burgling House of Reeves.

The judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.

Thompson apologised to the Reeves family through his defence counsel Adam Davis.

"He regretted what had happened, and would do for a long time," Mr Davis said.

The defendant was going through 'personal difficulties' at the time of the fire, his lawyer said.

He was unemployed, going through a divorce and having difficulty gaining access to one of his children, Mr Davis said."


Poor thing. I am sure there are many people going through much worse. The ironic thing about this is that he will now most probably see even less of his child. I wonder what he thinks of his actions now?


""The only way he [Thompson] could explain his actions was that he got caught up in the madness that was going on," Mr Davis added.

"He felt he was showing off to the crowd gathered in the store.

"He did not intend to cause the huge damage that followed."


What did he think the result would be?


The Old Bailey heard that Thompson had a string of previous convictions from 20 separate occasions, including a robbery in North London in 2000 when he was part of a gang armed with knives and a machete.

House of Reeves was founded in Croydon in 1867 and survived two World Wars.

It's quite ridiculous when you consider that people are jailed for shorter periods for (accidentally) killing people.

(Not that I disagree with the sentence, just think it's another example of how inconsistent our judiciary system is)

I think, to me anyway it seems, pressure has been applied to give out much sterner sentencing to anyone on trial and found guilty or pleading guilty to any crimes as to the riots.

He'll be out in five years. Hardly seems extreme at all considering the damage he did.

Good.

Well killing someone by accident is pretty different to doing something with malicious intent.

good....Prat he is...

Considering he could have killed those people if they was in the building at the time he really should be getting higher than 11 years in prison, especially considering he will probably be out in 2 years anyway.