A man in the grip of a drug-induced psychotic episode has been locked up after he set a fire outside a police station in a desperate attempt to get arrested.
Liam Bishop gathered up traffic cones and rubbish before piling it against a wall outside a Cleveland Police station in Middlesbrough.
The 33-year-old’s flaming ambition was cut short when a passing police officer spotted the blaze before grabbing an extinguisher and dowsing the fire.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Bishop targeted the building before sitting on a nearby wall and waiting to be arrested in the early hours of August 31 last year.
Deborah Smithies, prosecuting, said: “As the officer was driving past, he noticed there was a fire at the front of the building.
“He stopped his car, took out a fire extinguisher and put it out.”
The court heard how the arsonist told arresting officers that he had started the fire as he didn’t have anywhere else to live.
“The fire was started below a CCTV, it didn’t catch the fire being started but it did catch the defendant returning to put things on the fire,” she added.
Miss Smithies said Bishop had 25 convictions for 117 offences on his record, including a previous attack on a police station in 2023.
Bishop, of Laurel Avenue, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered after a psychiatric assessment was carried out to establish his mental state.
Paul Green, mitigating, said his client was suffering from psychosis at the time that he started the fire at the Middlehaven police station.
He added: “He finds himself in a difficult situation, he goes to the police station, finds it locked and does something to get arrested.
“If you watch the CCTV, you can see the state that he is in at that time. This wasn’t some planned, skilled attempt to cause damage to a police station.”
Judge Richard Bennett sentenced Bishop to 16-months in prison after telling him that his problems stem from the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
He said: “You walked to Middlehaven Police Station, collected debris together, put it next to a front wall of the station and then set it alight.
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“CCTV shows you returning to that fire with further debris in order to provide fuel, which included traffic cones and clothing.”
Speaking after the hearing, Superintendent Marc Anderson, Middlesbrough’s District Commander, condemned the arsonist's reckless actions.
He said: “Our police stations are visited by victims of crime and other members of the public who need help and advice from police, as well as colleagues from partner organisations, and as such they should be a safe space for all.
“As well as this, our officers and staff should be able to work in the confidence that they’re safe whilst at work therefore I welcome the sentence passed to Bishop for his completely unacceptable actions that day.”
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