Man jailed for starting fires across Gloucester over one night

A man who committed a string of arson attacks in Gloucester over a single night has been jailed.

Anthony Reed-Metcalfe, aged 32 and of Eastern Avenue, was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison at Gloucester Crown Court this week.

Reed-Metcalfe had admitted to starting three separate fires at properties across the city in the early hours of Sunday 29 September 2024.

He had pleaded guilty to three counts of arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered, as well as one count of burglary, when he appeared at Gloucester Crown Court last November.

The court heard that officers had been called to the report of a building on fire in Southgate Street shortly after 1am.

Another fire was also spotted at a property two doors down and a number of residents had to be evacuated for their safety.

A short time after, a number of calls were made to police to report large bin fires at different spots around the city. Police believed that the fires were being started deliberately.

At around 3am, CCTV operators spotted a man matching the description and alerted police officers patrolling the city centre.

He was spotted in the car park of Gloucester railway station and, while officers were searching the area, they heard the sound of breaking glass as the windows of the nearby Station Hotel blew out from the force of a fire that had been started inside.

Reed-Metcalfe was seen emerging and was arrested on suspicion of arson.

He admitted to setting fire to a mattress, before telling officers that he believed people were inside the building and laughing hysterically.

The estimated damage to the three buildings would cost more than £10,000 in total to repair.

The court was told that although Reed-Metcalfe had no previous convictions for arson, he had 22 previous convictions for 70 other offences and had been the subject of a community order at the time he committed the arson attacks.

In mitigation, the court was told that Reed-Metcalfe had a number of complex mental health issues, including autism, anxiety and depression, and had been taking a mixture of MDMA and alcohol in the week leading up to the incident.

However, he had responded well to treatment during his time in prison while awaiting sentence and was now an enhanced prisoner, showing he was actively working towards his own rehabilitation.

He was also given credit for an early guilty plea.

Sentencing Reed-Metcalfe, Judge Ian Lawrie QC told him that he would have liked to have found other ways of helping him rehabilitate further.

He said: “You have some very complex difficulties and, ordinarily, I would want to find an alternative to custody, as I am not convinced that addresses your many problems.

“However, the gravity of your offending gives me no alternative but to impose a custodial term.

“What is clear and is not in question is that, through a combination of drink and drugs, you were not, as people may say, playing with a full deck.

“While that gives an understanding of what you have done, it exposes the dangers your actions posed to others.”

Reed-Metcalfe was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for the three counts of arson, and eight months for the burglary, to run concurrently. He was ordered to pay a surcharge of £228.

He will be eligible to be considered for release on licence after serving 17 months.