A 31-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of starting the fire at Ica Haga in Västerås on Christmas Day. The woman is previously unpunished. She is employed within the city of Västerås and lives near the burned down shop.
The woman has a recent history of mental illness. At the beginning of December, she was placed under compulsory care at a psychiatric clinic. She was suicidal and so aggressive that she injured fellow patients, according to an administrative court ruling. The forced treatment of the woman ended on December 12 and transferred to voluntary psychiatric care.
According to the woman’s lawyer, she sought psychiatric care just before the arson.
– She was discharged from psychiatry half an hour before this happened, says Jari Smolander, the woman’s lawyer.
“The fire was a cry for help” Start the video to hear the woman’s defense lawyer Jari Smolander about the circumstances surrounding the fire.