Man admits starting hospital fires
A 62-year-old man who twice set fire to his mattress and bedding at a hospital for 'fun' has been made the subject of a hospital order.
Baden Hickinbottom told police he started the fires out of 'gay abandon', a court heard.
Hickinbottom was at Hallam Street Hospital in West Bromwich when he started the first blaze on March 30 last year.
He was then moved to a more secure unit but was still able to set fire to his bedding on April 3, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The damage caused by the two fires cost 'many thousands of pounds', Mr Geoffrey Dann, proseucting, said.
Hickinbottom, of no fixed address, admitted two charges of arson and being reckless at to whether life was endangered.
Judge Michael Challinor said reports clearly indicated he had been suffering from a mental disorder.
