A 31-year-old man has been sentenced to four years in prison after trying to start a fire at a Bournemouth petrol station in September last year.
Rory Mayoh, from Shaftesbury, Dorset, was spotted trespassing on railway tracks close to Bournemouth station on September 6 2024, leading to power to the tracks being turned off.
Mayoh then left the tracks and walked to the Asda forecourt on Holdenhurst Road, where he picked up a pump and tried to release fuel while repeatedly trying to ignite a lighter. He then climbed onto the roof, ripping off slates and throwing them to the ground. After coming down from the roof a chase followed, with Mayoh biting an officer’s thigh during the course of this.
Mayoh last week pleaded guilty to attempted arson, common assault of an emergency worker, criminal damage, and affray, and was sentenced to four years in prison. Constable Harry Roissetter, of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole CID, called Mayoh’s actions “completely reckless”, and said they could have had “very serious, tragic consequences”.
Roissetter said staff at the filling station “noticed Mayoh’s behaviour and were able to prevent fuel from being released”, while the “quick-thinking and brave actions of officers” led to his arrest.
