A SERIAL arsonist, nicknamed Firelighter, was yesterday locked up for three years for burning down a telephone exchange and causing almost half a million pounds worth of damage.
Not only that, York Crown Court heard, Martin Pattison, 20, torched the uninsured Monk Fryston Football Club pavilion in North Yorkshire causing £12,000 worth of damage.
He also set fire to eight cars in the Selby area during a fivemonth spell of fire-raising.
Pattison, of Pasture Close, Wistow, near Selby, who admitted nine offences of arson between August 2000 and February this year, told police he was egged on by others.
Prosecutor David Bradshaw said more than 600 customers were left without a service after Pattison poured petrol onto the British Telecom building at Gateforth in January and caused fire damage nearing half a million pounds.
He said burning down the football clubhouse on the same day left the Monk Fryston club having to raise the cost through subscriptions and donations.
Sending Pattison to a Young Offenders' Institution, Judge Peter Charlesworth said: "Witnesses say he boasted and enjoyed it. Indeed, his nickname was Firelighter.
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