POLICE have issued a stark warning to arsonists after a man was sent to a young offenders’ institution for starting a blaze which caused �400,000 of damage to a Suffolk factory.

David Allison, now 20, was handed two years detention at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday after deliberately starting a fire which ripped through Chase Plastics in Brandon last year.

The court heard Allison used a lighter to ignite waste plastic in a trailer parked outside the plastics factory on the Brandon Industrial Estate in February last year.

The fire then spread to a storage area and fencing on the site.

Allison had denied the offence but was found guilty by a majority jury verdict.

A boy, now aged 16 and a 19-year-old man from Norfolk also admitted starting the fire.

Judge John Devaux said Allison of Micklesmere Drive in Ixworth, had done nothing to alert the emergency services and had seemed to ‘delight’ in the consequences of his actions.

Det Insp David Giles, speaking after the result, said: “What may have seemed like a laugh to these young men had the potential to harm others and caused fear in the local community. “Deliberate fires draw emergency services away from other incidents and this in itself can further endanger lives, if a crew cannot respond to another 999 call.

“The sentences passed reflect the seriousness of the offence, and should serve as a warning to others that if you substantially damage property and put lives at risk, you will be prosecuted accordingly.”