Pub owner jailed for manslaughter
A Kent pub owner has been jailed for 12 years for killing his accomplice when he torched his own premises.
Keith Willoughby, 53, was convicted of arson and manslaughter last November after Maidstone Crown Court heard he set fire to the Old Locomotive in Canterbury in August 2002 to clear debts of almost £250,000.
His accomplice Derek Drury died when toxic fumes from the petrol poured by the two men around the pub exploded.
Willoughby bought the Old Locomotive from Shepherd Neame in 1990, and had been trying to sell it for housing but could not get planning permission.
The court heard he owed £200,000 to a building society and £47,000 to the brewer.
Judge Warwick McKinnon last week sentenced Willoughby to 12 years for manslaughter and a further seven years for arson.
He said: "This was a carefully planned offence of arson to the public house that you owned in an obvious and greedy endeavour to rid yourself of your deteriorating and depressing financial difficulties."
Manager gets four years for pub arson A pub manager set fire to his pub because he had trouble coping with the pressures of work.
Jonathan Davies, 35, admitted arson and was jailed for four years at Stafford Crown Court last week.
Carol Knott, prosecuting, said Davies started 18 small fires at the Cross Guns in Codsall Wood, near Wolverhampton, in February 2003, causing £146,000 of damage.
Knott said: "The assistant manager said he was leaving and Davies locked the door.
"Some hours later Davies set about starting a number of fires upstairs and downstairs and, having started the fires, made good his escape through an upstairs window and called the fire brigade.
"He told a policeman he had been woken up by the fire alarm and gone to investigate and found the main bar alight."
When arrested a month later, Davies said someone else must have started the fire.
Denis Desmond, defending, said Davies had "effectively cracked up" due to "extreme pressure at work".
"He was working 70 to 80 hours a week and that became worse when the assistant manager left.
His marriage was breaking up and he took to drink in a major way."
Woman claimed gun incident was a joke A mother who pursued her son with a gun in a pub "as a joke" after he failed to turn up for Sunday lunch has been jailed for two years.
Paula Williams, 37, admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.
Williams was annoyed that her 18-year-old son, Gareth, failed to turn for Sunday roast, Cardiff Crown Court heard last week.
She went looking for her son at the Golden Lion in Nantyglo, near Ebbw Vale, Gwent.
Customers dived for cover when she held up the bar with a gun, but Gareth was not there.
Drinkers at the pub called police after she left.
An armed response unit arrived at Williams' home, where they seized a replica Desert Eagle .44
Magnum pistol.
Leighton Hughes, prosecuting, said: "Williams told the police she had been drinking and her actions were intended as a joke."
Judge John Griffith Williams said: "It must be understood that the possession of an imitation firearm will not be tolerated."
Police swoop nets underage drinkers A swoop by police and trading standards officers found that nearly half of drinkers in a Suffolk club were underage.
Trading standards officers asked a 16-year-old boy and two girls aged 14 and 15 to try to enter the unnamed club in Felixstowe.
All three made it inside without being asked for ID, and two of them were served alcohol.
Police officers then entered and checked the ages of those present.
Of the 35 tested, 16 were underage.
Some were as young as 15.
A council spokesman said the action was part of a drive to cut under-age drinking, which is being blamed for anti-social behaviour in the town.
The council's trading standards department is considering legal action against the licensee of the club.
