Teen to attend fire safety course after setting Braintree farm alight
A 15-year-old has been made to apologise to a farmer and will attend a fire safety course after starting a fire next to hay bales earlier this month
A teenager will take part in a fire safety intervention course after setting fire to hay on a farm in the Braintree district of north Essex.
The incident happened on 3 May. According to Essex Police, the fire was started next to a stack of hay bales but was extinguished before it could spread.
The 15-year-old admitted to lighting the hay but said they did not intend to cause a larger fire. They later apologised to the farmer as part of a community resolution – a form of restorative justice where the offender makes amends directly to the victim.
Police Constable Luke Jones, from Essex Police’s Rural Engagement Team, said: “The teenager admitted lighting the hay but said they didn’t intend to start a big fire. Fortunately, the flames were put out before they could properly take hold but arson can have devastating and heartbreaking consequences for farmers.”
He added: “Hay is highly combustible and even a small fire can spread very quickly into the surrounding countryside and become a wildfire, which would be catastrophic for the environment and local communities. This spring has been particularly dry, which has just increased the risk.”
The farmer requested that the teenager attend a Fire Safety Intervention Scheme run by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.
Luke Jones said: “The farmer wanted the teenager to face up to what they had done and to learn what the effects of their actions could have been so, rather than go down the court route, we arranged for a community resolution instead.”
He added: “This brings home to the teenager the enormity of their actions while avoiding giving them a criminal record at a young age.”
The Fire Safety Intervention Scheme is a free service that aims to stop young people who have shown fire-setting behaviour from becoming more involved in future incidents.