Waiter jailed in hotel arson case

By John Troughton

A French waiter was jailed for 18 months last week for deliberately starting a fire at London's Regent Palace Hotel.

Following a minor tiff, Sebastian Bruere lit torn papers which he placed at a door in staff quarters at the Piccadilly hotel, which has 1,000 bedrooms.

The Old Bailey heard that a member of staff saw smoke and extinguished flames, although £300 of damage was caused to the door, carpet and ceiling.

Bruere, 24, of Belgrave Road, Pimlico, south-west London, admitted arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered on 5 January.

Passing sentence, Judge Leonard Gerber said that after a night's drinking Bruere had returned with a friend to the staff annexe, which houses 250 hotel workers.

"You obviously had too much to drink and on the way to the friend's room had a petty argument, but this appears to have taken possession of you."

The judge said Bruere quite deliberately went out into the corridor and started the fire outside the room of a worker he had argued with.

When arrested, Bruere was unable to explain why he suddenly became an arsonist.