Arsonist is facing life

A teenage arsonist has admitted causing £1.4m of damage to Stourport Sports Club after drinking nine pints of cider.

See also: Heartbreak at loss of venue

A judge told Damien Evan he could face life in prison. The drunk 19-year-old set alight paper and linen in a wheelie bin and watched flames for 20 minutes with two friends before the alarm was raised and they ran away, a court was told.

The ferocious blaze, started in the early hours of December 4, destroyed facilities for 14 football teams, athletics and netball players.

The centre will take a year to rebuild and has seen the loss of £40,000 in equipment and £150,000 in lost bookings.

Evans, aged 19, of Tomkinson Drive, in Foley Park, Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to arson at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

He was remanded on bail for a psychiatric report and Judge Alistair McCreath said he wanted to know if Evans set fire to places for pleasure.Warning him he was in danger of receiving a life sentence, he said: "I would not have found it difficult to find you were dangerous and had to be kept in custody for a long, long time."

The club in Kingsway is jointly run by the district council, Worcestershire County Council, local clubs and the sport club, who have all pledged to restore it to its former glory.

Funded by lottery money, it is the home of Stourport and Kidderminster Athletic Clubs and Stourport Hockey Club, and also used by the school and football clubs.

Sports players have been able to use the artificial pitches while the club has been out of action and temporary changing rooms have been provided at nearby Stourport High School.

Evans and Philip Bell, aged 21, of Sutton Road, Kidderminster, also pleaded guilty to an assault on 21-year-old Tomos Spiv causing actual bodily harm on June 11.

Both men will be sentenced on March 7.

By Tony Bishop