Andrew Hornby had fantasised about blowing up the Department of Work and Pensions office in Hull, after his benefits were changed.
But instead the 44-year-old decided to kill himself by stuffing a petrol-soaked rag into his toaster at his home on Hull's Bransholme estate and programming it to go off in the early hours.
Meanwhile he took 10 sleeping tablets, feeding two to his dog.
However the plan fell apart when a neighbour woke up and saw Hornby standing at the bedroom window and smoke coming from the house. While he called the emergency services, three other men broke into Hornby's house and rescued him.
This is one reason why I'm never going to rescue anyone from a burning building; how do I know that they want to be rescued?
Judge Roger Thorn QC said [...] "I accept the advice that you are beginning to stabilise, but the position remains one likely to fluctuate.
"This is a very serious offence. There is a risk to society and that risk, if it matures, is a very serious one."
Poor guy. Lucky for him a UK life sentence doesn't actually mean life in prison, so he'll have plenty of time to research his bomb making recipes ready to take out various government agencies upon his release.
If you want to off yourself, be my guest. But don't do something stupid that will burn down your entire neighborhood, and ensure everybody remembers you for enternity as the asshole who torched the town.
dem_z
United Kingdom
June 2004
JUN 15, 2005 03:55 AM