Man gets 11 years for riot blaze

A MAN with 20 previous convictions was jailed yesterday for 11 and a half years for starting a massive fire that destroyed a 140-year-old furniture shop during last summer’s riots.

Gordon Thompson, 34, was jailed at the Old Bailey for causing the huge blaze at House of Reeves in Croydon, south London, on 8 August last year.

The fire, at the height of the unrest, was so fierce it spread to buildings on the other side of the road, leaving residents there to flee for their lives as their homes were destroyed.

In total, the Reeves family lost an estimated £3 million and yesterday a judge told Thompson the trauma they had suffered was “inestimable”.

Thompson’s 20 previous convictions include one for violent robbery, but he said he became involved in the riots because he was depressed about his divorce.