A stressed Suffolk man who ran a bar and restaurant at a marina on the River Orwell started a fire which caused £100,000 damage, a court has heard.
Sentencing 61year-old John Delaney, who had leased the Loch and Quay bar and restaurant at Woolverstone Marina, to a suspended prison sentence, Judge Nicola Talbot- Hadley said: “This was an act of impulsiveness following years of built-up frustration and anger at what was happening in the restaurant.”
She said it was disputed how the fire started but it was clear Delaney had been drinking, and his memory of events was hazy.
She said Delaney had put his “heart and soul” into the business, as well as £150,000 of his own money, and had kept things going during lockdown. “Stress took its toll,” said the judge.
“Out of anger and frustration you kicked an oil can across the floor and there were flammable materials around which caught fire,” she said
The court heard that the fire which took place on December 7 2022, caused £100,000 damage and fire investigators found cooking oil had been used as an accelerant.
Delaney was found inside the premises doused in cooking oil and was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and some burns.
He had previously told a member of staff that he was going to “blow up” the premises.
Delaney of Partridge Road, Hadleigh, admitted arson and was given a 21-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months, a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, a 12-month mental health treatment requirement and a three-month alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement.
Isobel Ascherson for Delaney said her client had been drinking heavily because of the stress of running the restaurant and mounting debt.
She said the fire was started under a dining table and in addition to damage to the table, there was smoke damage and damage caused by tinsel melting on to a counter. "it is disputed the actual damage justifies the claim of over £100,000,” she said.
She claimed that following the fire all Delaney’s personal belongings, including clothing, his laptop and a £16,000 pizza oven he had purchased had been destroyed by the owners of the premises.
She said Delaney, who has now stopped drinking, had nothing to gain financially from the fire. “The element of self-harm can be close to the truth in relation to this,” she said.
Miss Ascherson claimed Delaney had slipped on oil and injured himself and had put out the fire with an extinguisher before the fire brigade arrived.
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