Fifteen-year-old started huge Leeds Leonardo Building blaze that caused £4.3 million damage
A young teenager who started a fire that ripped through a Leeds city-centre building has been jailed after it was estimated the cost of the damage ran to more than £4 million.
The 15-year-old lit the fire inside the Leonardo Building on Great George Street and Cookridge Street near Millennium Square in October 2022.
The blaze engulfed the old Grade-II-listed building, which was being renovated at the time, and involved dozens of firefighters working to bring it under control.
Kyle Bennett, of Iveson Close, Lawnswood, admitted starting the fire, although no explanation was given. A second young defendant was found not guilty after a trial.
Now 18, Bennett also admitted dealing in Class A drugs after a car was stopped in Leeds on January 13 this year and he was found to have more than 60 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine on him.
He appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Doncaster where he was being held on remand.
Mitigating, James Harding said the teenager had an “exceptionally hard start in life”, that his parents were both drug users. He said he had also been diagnosed with ADHD.
He added that Bennett “wanted to hold his hands up” to starting the fire.
Judge Christopher Batty jailed him for 19 months in total - 12 months for the drug offences and seven months for the arson. His sentence for causing the fire was reduced due to his young age at the time.
Judge Batty told him: “What a way to start your criminal offending. I just do not know what was behind the arson.
“I have no doubt it was started deliberately.
“The consequences of what you did - it was over £4 million worth of damage. Even as a 15-year-old, that is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified.”
The fire was started shortly before 8pm on Saturday, October 15, 2022. The court heard there were two seats in which the fire was lit. It quickly spread to plastic wrapping around the building.
With a cordon placed around the building, crews from seven stations along with support units battled for hours and were able to contain the fire to the building’s top three floors. Nobody was hurt.
The red-brick building was built around 1900 and was first listed in 1994. Over the years it has been used as schools, printworks, a teaching college, and most recently as council offices.
At the time of the fire it was being renovated into student accommodation for developer McLaren Property.
Upon completion, the development will bring 473 bedrooms in total, with 255 bedrooms in the new build section and 218 in the refurbished section of the Leonardo building.
The £62m project has already been underway for a year and was scheduled to be completed in time for the 2023/24 academic year.