‘Stressed' chef jailed for five years after setting fire to restaurant
A chef from Faversham in Kent has been jailed for five years for setting fire to the restaurant where he worked.
Canterbury Crown Court was told that stressed out 24-year-old Daniel Freeman started the £180,000 blaze at Mickey's Diner at Harbledown near Canterbury last July.
As he sentenced him, Judge Simon James said that Freeman had felt that the fact he was suffering from stress and anxiety was not being taken seriously by his bosses and this was why he started the fire.
He said Freeman had started the fire "out of spite and revenge" and continued: "You were feeling angry that they were not taking your stress and anxiety seriously. You deliberately and methodically set about burning down the premises."
The judge, who said that Freeman was still a danger to the public, also imposed a three-month sentence on him, to run concurrently, for theft of £800 from the till at the premises.
Freeman pleaded guilty to both arson and theft.
The court had been told that he was captured on CCTV starting the fire and thieving from the till. He then walked into a police station and gave himself up two days later.
By Court Reporter
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