Two jailed for Novas hostel arson attack
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Two men guilty of an arson attack on a homelessness hostel have been sentenced to three years each in prison.
Stephen Coster, 29, and John Chaproniere, 39, were found guilty of arson recklessly endangering life at Blackfriars Crown Court last month, and were sentenced today.
In June 2008, the pair started a fire in a staff office at Arlington House, a hostel for homeless men run at the time by social justice charity Novas Scarman.
Mr Coster had disabled the fire alarms and blocked off security cameras before starting the blaze, but a back-up alarm alerted the fire brigade, who were able to put out the fire before any of the 100 sleeping residents came to harm.
Mr Chaproniere was described in court as being easily led, with an IQ of 56. Judge Aidan Marron acknowledged that the defendant was of ‘limited intelligence’, but said he had still helped with a serious offence that put lives in danger.
Sentencing Mr Coster, Judge Marron, said: ‘I have not the slightest doubt that you were the moving force behind this offence. You pose a significant risk to members of the public.’
Arlington House was owned by Novas Scarman until it was transferred to One Housing Group last year.
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