Youth guilty of £8m school arson

The fire caused extensive damage to the school

A 17-year-old youth has been found guilty of an arson attack that caused £8m damage to a Swansea school.

But a jury at Swansea Crown Court has cleared his 18-year-old co-defendant James Green of the charge.

The trial heard the fire on 17 March this year destroyed 40 classrooms at Penyrheol Comprehensive in Gorseinon.

The 17-year-old, who will be sentenced later this month, had admitted burglary at the school but had denied arson and claimed Mr Green started the fire.

Mr Green was cleared of both burglary and arson and was immediately released from the dock by Judge John Diehl.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named at this stage for legal reasons, will be sentenced after the preparation of reports into his background.

I hope that the sentencing will serve as a deterrent against arson attacks on our schools Alan Tootill, head teacher

Judge Diehl said he was satisfied that another person was with the teenager when the fire started.

Speaking after the verdict the school's head teacher Alan Tootill said he hoped that the punishment would deter future arson attacks on schools.

"Apart from the damage to the school building which everyone could see, years of virtually irreplaceable teaching materials and coursework were lost," he said.

"Today's verdict brings to a close a testing period in the school's life - it is now time to move on with optimism and enthusiasm for the future."

The court heard the blaze was thought to have started in the staff room in a bag of paper meant for recycling.

A man living near the school told the jury how he heard voices in the school grounds the night of the fire.

Jonathan Williams said he was in his garden behind the school when he heard a fire extinguisher being set-off.

He said two people ran past the front of his house and he heard one of them tell the other that he had heard the school's fire alarm go off.

The 17-year-old had claimed he saw Mr Green set fire to the bag of paper in the school and said he immediately left, not discovering until later that night the damage the blaze had caused.

Mr Green denied being with the 17-year-old inside the school and said it was untrue he had boasted to other teenagers about starting the fire.