Teenage Arsonist Gets Eight Years
Daniel Scott, now 18, claimed he had been trying to obtain insurance money so that he could buy new furniture and also said that he had heard voices.
His parents, Trevor and Sally Scott, managed to escape the blaze and another family member climbed out of a rear window to safety.
A teenager who killed his younger sister by setting fire to their family home was yesterday sentenced to eight years in a young offenders institution.
Daniel Scott, now 18, claimed he had been trying to obtain insurance money so that he could buy new furniture and also said that he had heard voices.
His parents, Trevor and Sally Scott, managed to escape the blaze and another family member climbed out of a rear window to safety.
But Scott's 16-year-old sister Kylie became trapped in an upstairs room and was overcome by smoke moments after dialling 999.
She was found unconscious by firefighters and died in hospital from the effects of inhaling smoke and gases from the fire in Scunthorpe, Lincs.
Scott, who was 17 at the time, admitted manslaughter and two counts of arson with intent to endanger life, at Hull Crown Court.
Judge Michael Mettyear told him: "I have read the transcript of that 999 call. It was horrendous to read. It was awful to realise the desperate fight for breath that she was waging."
Scott started another fire after the family had been re-housed in an apparent attempt to kill himself.
"How you could have done that knowing what happened to your sister is beyond me," the judge said.
Judge Mettyear said he was aware of problems in Scott's life but there were no psychiatric issues that could explain his behaviour and only a lengthy custodial sentence was appropriate.
He added: "Your mother and father have lost a daughter but they have also lost you as well. They are anxious to have you back in the fold in the belief that you have learnt your lesson."
After the hearing, Scott's mother said: "He is a good lad - hard working and never in trouble before. We just want to remember what he was like before this happened."
Det Supt Colin Andrews, who led the police investigation, described it as "a very tragic incident" that had completely torn apart a family.
By Paul Stokes
News.telegraph.co.uk
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