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Wales Online
National
Jason Evans

Inmate lit fire in prison cell with vape as 'cry for help'

An inmate being held on remand in prison tried to set fire to his cell as a "cry for help", a court has heard. Nicky Griffiths used a vape to start the blaze in the cell at HMP Swansea which he was sharing with another prisoner. Thanks to the swift actions of staff the fire was extinguished before anyone was hurt.

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that just before 7.15am on August 28 last year a fire alarm activated in a cell on F Wing of Swansea prison. Staff rushed to the cell and looked through the observation hatch in the door, and though the lights were off the officers could see Hughes and his cellmate - and the glow of a fire.

The men were told to get as low as possible to avoid the smoke while the prison officers got fire hoods ready and sprayed water over the flames through a valve on the door. When staff were satisfied the fire was out the inmates were taken to safety. Griffiths told staff his "head had gone" but he wasn't formally interviewed until May 22, some nine months after the fire. In his interview he said he had used a vape and an electrical socket to set fire to paper, and he put the incident down to his mental health saying he had wanted to be moved to the segregation unit.

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The court heard details of a victim impact statement from the governor of the prison which described the disruption to the working of the jail and the worry caused to other inmates. The cost of making good the damage to the cell was £636.

The court heard that 10 days after the fire Griffiths was sentenced to 13 months in prison for a string of offences including possession of a knife. He was subsequently released on licence, and was charged by postal requisition with the cell arson on June 24 but failed to turn up at magistrates' court and a warrant was issued for his arrest on July 15.

The prosecutor said that warrant was executed in the early hours of July 26 after police received reports of a "disturbance" involving a group of people on The Kingsway in Swansea city centre - as they dealt with the incident they recognised one of those involved as Griffiths, and arrested him. When he was searched officers found he had a lock-knife in the pocket of his jacket. The defendant denied the jacket was his, and said he had picked it up at his sister's flat. You can read about a wannabe gangster rapper who tried to firebomb a rival MC who "dissed" him in a song but ended up setting fire to the wrong house here.

Nicky Griffiths, 35, of Talfan Road, Bonymaen, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to arson, failing to surrender, and possession of a bladed article when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has previous convictions for 42 offences including dishonesty, drugs, and public order matters, as well as possession of a knife. He was being held on remand in Swansea prison awaiting sentence for the knife matter when he set fire to the cell. That incident had seen him stopped by police on a street in the Waun Wen area of the city in relation to an investigation into a stolen motorbike, and when searched was found to have a lock-knife in the pocket of a jacket - a jacket he claimed was not his.

John Allchurch, for Griffiths, told the court that at the time of the arson the defendant said his "head had gone" and had been suffering with paranoia and believed people were "out to get him". The advocate said: "It [the fire] was a cry for attention. It was a cry for help in order to get him moved."

Judge Huw Rees told Griffiths that arson was always treated as a serious offence by the courts because of the risks it posed to others. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea to arson the defendant was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and with a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea to possession of a knife he was sentenced to six months. He was sentenced to one month for failing to turn up at court. All the sentences will run consecutively making an overall sentence of 23 months in prison - the defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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