It was in March this year that a man in his 50s set fire to his sofa and on his balcony in Fornhöjden in Södertälje. The man had then been out at the pub and was under the influence of alcohol.
At three o’clock in the morning, several neighbors were awakened by fire smoke that spread into their apartments. A family with children states that their children have become so scared that they want to move away.
“Danger to the lives of others”
After the man started the fire, he must have gone to sleep. The fire never spread outside the apartment, but the Södertälje district court judges that there was a “concrete danger to the lives and health of others and extensive destruction of other people’s property”.
The convicted man has admitted that he was the one who lit the fire, but he states that he did it as a cry for help as he had previously tried to get psychological help and help with his alcohol drinking.
The man is now sentenced to six years in prison for aggravated arson. The crime is considered serious because the fire was started at night in a multi-family house located in a densely built-up area. He must also pay damages of over SEK 100,000 to the property owner.