Thief tries to claim compensation after he burns himself in robbery
It has been revealed that a car thief, who set himself on fire whilst trying to torch a van he had stolen, tried to pretend he had been kidnapped.
The 29-year-old blundering con is now facing jail after staging a murder hunt. He claimed a Ford Transit van had driven up to him and someone had doused him in petrol, bundled him into the van, and then set him alight.
He suffered personal injury and 40% burns and made false allegations to the police before attempting to file a compensation claim.
However, his plan was ruined after detectives launched an inquiry and found that he had stolen the van and then been injured when he tried to set it on fire.
The criminal, who has previous convictions for car theft, denied committing acts intended to pervert the cause of justice, arson and fraud during a Manchester Crown Court trial.
Describing his ordeal at the hands of the imaginary arsonists, he said: “It all happened so fast. He dashed the petrol at me from the can, threw the can inside with me, then stepped back.
”As he did so, the other smaller man came to the door with a coloured jacket that was alight, and threw that in. A fireball erupted in seconds, and I was blown towards the doors by the explosion.”
The thief’s car and house keys were found in the burnt-out Transit and the prosecuting defence said that it was a “scientific impossibility” that the 40% burns were caused by anyone else.
Updated on 24/05/2010