A 26-year-old Filton man has been charged with 24 counts of arson after vehicles with a total estimated replacement value of £400,000 were destroyed at seven locations across the Stokes and Patchway in the early hours of Sunday 3rd April 2022.
The trail of destruction began at around 1am when a van was set alight in New Road, Stoke Gifford (close to the Travis Perkins depot). Half-an-hour later, the fire service responded to three cars ablaze in Gatcombe Drive and Sandringham Road (both Stoke Gifford), less than a mile from the location of the first incident.
Around 45 minutes later, two council trucks were on fire in the car park at the Jubilee Centre, Bradley Stoke (about 1.5 miles from Stoke Gifford), followed around 40 minutes later by two more council trucks going up in flames in the car park at Little Stoke Park (less than a mile from the Jubilee Centre).
Just over half-an-hour later, 15 minibuses belonging to two local charities were ablaze in a car park at Rolls-Royce, Patchway, just over the railway footbridge from Little Stoke Park.
The arson spree finally ended at 4.20am, over three hours after it had begun, when a car was torched in Sherbourne Avenue, Bradley Stoke.
Following the shocking sequence of incidents, police put out an appeal for CCTV, door camera or dash cam footage which had captured “two suspicious people” between 1am and 4.40am on the day of the incidents.
Two days later, on 6th April, police released two CCTV clips, each showing “two individuals believed to be teenage boys or young men” who they were looking to trace. This was followed on 9th April by the news that two teenage boys, aged 14 and 15, had been arrested on suspicion of arson.
A further development in the case came on 27th April when it was announced that 26-year-old Daniel Cron had been charged with 24 counts of arson and had appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court that morning where he was released on conditional bail ahead of a hearing at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday 25th May.
The following day, police revealed that the two teenagers previously arrested in connection with the incidents had been “released with no further action being taken against them”.
Charities impacted
Local community transport operator Four Towns and Vale Link (FTVL) had 13 minibuses destroyed or damaged in the attack at the Rolls-Royce car park. All 13 have been written off by the charity’s insurers at an estimated loss valuation of almost £290,000.
The other two minibuses attacked at the Rolls-Royce site belonged to the Methodist Church and were their Ark buses used to engage with youngsters through outreach sessions in and around Bristol.
FTVL says most of its losses will be covered by insurance, but fuel in the vehicles (the majority of them had full tanks in readiness for the week ahead) and some other items, such as vehicle permits, were not covered.
Describing the impact of the attack on the charity’s services, a spokesperson said:
“The immediate impact of the arson attack was devastating, and we feared that the loss of so many vehicles would mean the end of the charity. However, all the staff rallied round and although we had to cancel several journeys, including some school runs in the first few days, we have tried to provide a near normal service ever since.”
“The shortage of vehicles is ongoing, and our transport manager believes this situation will continue for at least another three months. Our office staff are working hard to schedule passenger journeys to try to assist everyone who wishes to travel with us.”
In a further blow for the charity, following the incident, Rolls-Royce decided that only vehicles owned or driven by Rolls-Royce employees, authorised contractors or visitors would be permitted to be parked at Rolls-Royce facilities. They had previously allowed the charity to park on their Filton site for free for many years. The charity says it was given just 7 days’ notice to remove its vehicles from their site.
Richard Whittington, FTVL chair of trustees, commented:
“The arson attack was a devastating blow to the charity, not least because it seemed such a mindless crime which put a vital service for children and vulnerable adults at risk. But after the initial outrage, the team have rallied round with great spirit to minimise the impact on our service users. Many people have offered help or just expressed their sympathy, which has been so reassuring at such a difficult time.”
“Losing our parking space was a real blow, although we understand the reasons. With the help of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC), we now have temporary parking, but this is only available for a few more weeks. If any local businesses have secure parking available in the Patchway area we’d love to hear from them – we have a long-term solution on the horizon, but this could be several months away.”
Cost to councils
Stoke Gifford Parish Council says it received an insurance settlement of £29,010 for its two destroyed trucks. Brand new replacements have been ordered, with delivery expected in mid-May and June, at a total cost of £46,750. The council is currently hiring one substitute vehicle, which will cost it an estimated £1,000 by the time it is returned. A further estimated cost of £4,500 to repair damaged tarmac is still being discussed with insurers.
Bradley Stoke Town Council says it is yet to receive an insurance settlement in relation to its two destroyed trucks. It is currently hiring one substitute vehicle at a cost of £30 per day after benefiting from the free loan of a vehicle from SGC for ten days. SGC also assisted the town council helped by emptying some litter bins on main thoroughfares while the town council was without a vehicle.
Police response
A member of the public speaking at a recent meeting of Stoke Gifford Parish Council (which had two vehicles destroyed) asked “Where were the police?” Given the extended period of time over which these incidents occurred (3hrs 11min), the Journal put a number of questions to Avon and Somerset Police in an attempt to assess whether the policing response on the night was adequate and timely.
A summary of the responses is given below. The force was unable to answer all our questions in time for the publication of this article. We will continue our enquiries and provide an update in due course.
Police statement on their response as events unfolded
The first call from the fire service was at 1.32am, regarding the vehicle fire in New Road, Stoke Gifford. At that time, they had not determined whether the fire was deliberate and were not requesting police attendance.
There was a further call from the fire service at 1.51am stating this fire was deliberate and that there were further vehicles on fire in Gatcombe Drive and Sandringham Road, Stoke Gifford.
At 2.38am the fire service called requesting police attendance at the Jubilee Centre, Bradley Stoke, stating this was the fourth location with a vehicle fire.
All available units were deployed on foot and mobile patrol, including an unmarked car, a dog unit and specialist tactical support units.
The National Police Air Service helicopter was not available, but the fire service drone was deployed.
The incident was managed by a Critical Incident Manager (inspector) and the Force Incident Manager (inspector) and overseen by the Force Duty Officer (chief inspector). At 5am the duty superintendent ratified critical incident status. There were no reported injuries and no requirement to evacuate homes and this decision was made due to the impact on the community.
Mutual aid was not requested from other forces, but officers were deployed from across several policing areas.
While new fires were still being reported, officers were kept on beyond the end of their normal tour of duty, with all available units deployed to the area to search for possible suspects and make initial enquiries at the various locations.
An internal debrief has been commissioned to inform our response to future critical incidents.
This article originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on pages 4 & 5).
Court appearance
UPDATE added 25th May 2022.
Daniel Cron is yet to enter a plea after spate of fires in the early hours of April 3https://t.co/OJOoGQyFJl
— Bristol Live (@BristolLive) May 25, 2022
The Bristol Post has reported that Daniel Cron duly appeared at Bristol Crown Court today (Wednesday 25th May 2022), charged with ‘arson being reckless as to whether property was damaged’.
The judge handed Cron conditional bail pending a plea and trial preparation hearing on 14th June 2022.
Full report: Man accused of setting multiple cars on fire in one night appears in court (Bristol Post)
Accused unable to attend court
UPDATE added 15th June 2022.
The Bristol Post has reported that Daniel Cron failed to attend the scheduled court hearing on Tuesday 14th June 2022, as he has been “hospitalised” after being involved in a motorcycle accident.
The judge adjourned the case pending an update on 27th June 2022.
Full report: Man charged with Rolls-Royce vehicle fires hospitalised after accident (Bristol Post)
