LEICESTER: A man has been sentenced to 34 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to arson following a fire at Belgrave Commercial Centre last year, Leicester Police have reported.
Parvinder Singh, 28, previously admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday 24 April this year following the blaze which happened during the evening of Sunday 6 January, 2019.
Businesses were destroyed in the fire leaving owners, staff and the community devastated. While people were inside premises affected at the time of the fire being started, fortunately no-one was injured in the incident.
Singh, of Bobbers Mill Road, Nottingham, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Monday (29 June) where he was sentenced to 34 months imprisonment.
Police had been called to the fire just after 10pm on 6 January where the fire service were also in attendance tackling the blaze. Initial enquiries involving police and fire investigators quickly determined that the fire had been started deliberately and an investigation was launched.
CCTV obtained showed a man with a bag sat on some crates in the area prior to the fire. The man was then seen to crouch over before standing up and walking off – noticing a flame coming from where he had been as he left. The fire was then seen to ignite on the CCTV and the man left the area.
The image of the suspect was issued in a public appeal and through leaflets which were handed out in the area asking for information. The enquiries led to Singh being identified as the man in the CCTV and work was then carried out to locate the defendant leading to his arrest in October last year.