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Man guilty of causing Leicester shisha cafe fire

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An arsonist convicted by a jury of causing a £100,000 blaze at a business rival's shisha café is facing jail. Imtiyaz Patel (28) torched the Cloud Nine café on the third floor of Curzon House, Curzon Street, St Matthews – whilst dozens of factory staff worked below. He was found guilty unanimously this afternoon, of arson, recklessly endangering lives, on the morning of October 25 last year. Nearly 40 employees at Galaxy Knitwear, on the second floor, were evacuated along with other staff from another textile firm at ground level. The flames and billowing smoke could be seen from up to 10 miles away. A relative of the Cloud Nine owner shouted "yes" as the verdict was announced at Leicester Crown Court. Patel, of Herschell Street, Highfields, who denied the offence, ran a rival shisha care, The Unit, Belgrave Gate, Leicester. Having been found guilty he sat down in the dock and closed his eyes. He bowed his head and pressed his hands together, as if in prayer. Judge Philip Head adjourned the case until September 6, for the preparation of pre-sentence and psychiatric reports. He remanded Patel in custody, saying: "The risk of absconding must be high."
During the four day trial the jury were shown CCTV footage of Patel parking his car outside Curzon House and carrying two bags inside, whilst wearing a hooded jacket. In a communal area, he is seen with a crowbar breaking into the locked café premises on the top storey. Inside the café he walks over to an area near some steps to break into panelling where the café's interior CCTV recorder and hard drive are hidden. Then Patel is seen to leave the building. He started the fire off-camera, with petrol and a lighter. Steve Chappell, chief crown prosecutor at CPS East Midlands, said: "Imtiyaz Patel broke into the premises and used petrol to start the fire and then left, completely ignorant of the destruction the fire would cause and the danger he had put people in. He later admitted setting the fire out of spite in the hope that people would come to his café instead, but had not intended it to be so serious. "Patel's actions have destroyed a business that had taken months to build up and left the owner without a livelihood. The fire took hold in the middle of the morning in an occupied building. If is fortunate that nobody was seriously hurt as a result of his reckless and selfish actions." Video showing the fire at Cloud Nine café

Man guilty of causing Leicester shisha cafe fire


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