Police have admitted they botched an investigation after a convicted killer was cleared of starting a fire which destroyed a North Lincolnshire factory.
Saman Karim, 29, from Hull, was accused of burning down the Geest pizza factory at Barton-upon-Humber in April 2005.
But Judge John Reddihough said the case was "riddled with inconsistencies" and directed the jury to acquit him.
Det Ch Supt Richard Kerman of Humberside Police, admitted that "poor decisions" were made in the inquiry.
Despite being acquitted of arson, Karim will not walk free as he is serving a life sentence for the murder of his employer Mark Conway in August 2005.
The Geest plant fire caused an estimated £55m of damage and led to the loss of 600 jobs.
"In relation to the initial report of this arson there were some poor decisions made by a particular member of our staff"
Karim was interviewed about the blaze in June 2006, but the matter did not come to court until last year.
Humberside Police have admitted that mistakes were made in its investigation of the arson attack, which led to unacceptable delays in bringing the matter before the courts.
Speaking after the case, Det Ch Supt Kerman said the fire had initially been investigated by detectives at Scunthorpe and one officer had since been disciplined.
"In relation to the initial report of this arson there were some poor decisions made by a particular member of our staff," he told the BBC.
"That has resulted in internal misconduct proceedings.
"Having said that, the case was thoroughly reinvestigated by the Humberside Police major incidents team later in 2005 and that has resulted in the case which came to court this week.
"We are disappointed with the result. But we understand why the judge made the decision he did and we have to respect the court's decision."
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