Dangerous Blackburn arsonist is jailed

A dangerous criminal who went on an arson spree in Blackburn has been jailed following our investigation.

Callum Southworth,22, committed all the offences in the space of just over an hour on April 22, last year.

Police were contacted by the fire service at 12.41am to reports three wheelie had been set alight in a short space of time, behind JYSK, at the back of Pizza Hut and in the doorway of a business in Mayson Street.

The wheelie bin belonging to a cash and carry on Dickens Street was also set on fire at 12.50am. That incident was captured on CCTV and shows Southworth, who was wearing pants with a reflective stripe at top of leg, attempt to set fire to the bin. When that failed, he set fire to items in the bin and walked away.

At 1.12am we were contacted again by the fire service who reported that they had come across a fire in Higher Audley Street. In this incident a trampoline in the garden of a property had been set alight and a pushchair had been placed up to the back door and set alight. There were adults and children in the property at the time, with the youngest being just three years old.

At 1.39am the fire service re-contacted us to say they were attending a house fire in Cambridge Street. In this incident, the wheelie bin had been set on fire outside the front of the property, close to the front door. This caused both ground floor windows to smash and the front door to catch fire. Firefighters forced entry to the property and got the lone female out. She was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. The utility boxes on the front of the property were also damaged, leaving the victim with no gas or electricity.

Firefighters confirmed they saw the same male – now known to be Southworth – at the scene of that incident and in close vicinity of another one. They described the man as being white, around 5ft 8ins, with a black eye on his left eye. He was wearing a grey hoody and black pants.

At 1.48am a resident in Merchants Landing called to report that someone had posted a lit ballot paper through her letterbox, however this had failed to set fire to the property. PC Christopher Hamil attended the scene and viewed the victim’s CCTV footage, and identified the suspect to be Southworth.

PC Hamil located Southworth on Bennington Street wearing the same clothing as seen on the CCTV footage and described by firefighters in Cambridge Street. Southworth, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered, two arsons and one attempted arson.

Earlier this week he was sentenced to four and a half years custody, with a twoyear extended licence period after a judge at Preston Crown Court deemed him to be a dangerous offender. DC Adele Hassall, of Blackburn CID, said: “Southworth’s reckless actions could have easily resulted in somebody losing their life. His appalling offending quickly escalated from setting fires to wheelie bins outside businesses to then targeting residential properties with people inside.

Southworth committed his offending at times when his victims were likely to be asleep and if the fires had quickly spread they may not have been able to react.

“I welcome the sentence handed down to him and hope he uses his time in prison to reflect on his disgraceful behaviour.”

Man jailed for attack with knuckle duster

A man who carried out two assaults on the same victim - using a knuckle duster in the second attack - has been jailed.

Lee Green assaulted the man twice in the space of four days in Burnley.

As part of our investigation, a facial injury expert from the National Crime Agency was asked to study the injuries sustained by the victim in the second assault.

His report concluded that the injuries could only have been caused by a knuckle duster type weapon.

Green, 35, of Berridge Avenue, Burnley, pleaded guilty to section 20 wounding, a section 39 assault and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

He was jailed for 27 months by a judge at Preston Crown Court, his guilty pleas having been entered on the day he had been due to stand trial.

The assaults happened in August 2021, the first outside Burnley Football Club on August 7 where the victim had taken his two children to watch a friendly match. He had come out of the shop when Green saw him and started shouted abuse. Green then pushed the man in the face, causing reddening.

On August 10, the victim was walking his dog in Lockyer Avenue Park when Green approached him.

After shouting abuse, Green was seen to reach in his pocket and take out a metal object.

Green ran towards his victim and struck him in the face with the object in his right hand, immediately causing two open wounds above and below his eye.

He suffered a fractured eye socket and damage to facial muscles, with him having to attend several hospital appointments.

The knuckle duster was never found. However, Dr Hugo Haines, a facial injuries expert from the NCA, concluded that the injuries could have only been caused by a knuckle duster-type weapon.

Det Con Gemma Anderson of Lancashire Police, said: “A challenge we faced in this case was not being able to retrieve the weapon used.

“Undeterred by that, we carried out an expeditious investigation, with Dr Haines providing his expert professional opinion. “The victim has expressed his gratitude for the effort and time we put into the investigation, which resulted in him being able to move on in his life without living in fear of the defendant Lee Green.”