Boy in court over hoax fire death

A district judge has criticised sentencing powers which left him unable to jail a youth for making a hoax fire call which led to a woman's death.

Nicola Stacy, 36, died when her car collided with a fire engine in Sheffield. Her 10-year-old daughter is still seriously injured in hospital.

Ian Patterson, 17, told police he made the hoax call for "a laugh".

A judge at Doncaster Youth Court said his powers were limited and handed him an Anti-social Behaviour Order.

The court was told Patterson, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to making false reports to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service on 26, 27 and 29 June.

He made the third call from a mobile phone at 2249 BST and reported that a warehouse was on fire on Old Sheffield Road, Rotherham.

What has frankly astonished me is the powers I have to deal with a case of this sort are so limited District Judge John Foster

Two engines were deployed and while one arrived to discover it was a false alarm, the other was involved in the fatal collision on Attercliffe Common.

Ms Stacy was declared dead at the scene and her daughter, who was a front-seat passenger, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

District Judge John Foster said: "As a result of your actions, someone has lost their life and a young child has been seriously hurt. Very seriously hurt.

"What has frankly astonished me is the powers I have to deal with a case of this sort are so limited.

"Parliament has decreed that if you were 18 years of age you could be sent to prison for a maximum of three months only. But you are not 18, you are 17.

"You richly deserve to lose your liberty in my view for a significant period of time but because you are 17 and because the maximum sentence an adult can receive is three months in prison, I cannot sentence you to custody."

Speaking after the sentencing, Mark Shaw, area manager for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said they were disappointed a prison sentence was not an option.

He said that although the force had reduced the number of hoax 999 calls made, they still received an average of two false reports each day.