Teen threatened to set himself on fire at town hall to ‘get attention of council’

Mohammed Abu Bakr Ibrahim, 19, went into the One Stop Shop at town hall at around 11.40am on September 5 this year.

Bolton Crown Court heard he was already known to staff at the One Stop Shop, which provides council services to members of the public, and that he was approached by security staff.

Prosecutor James Cooper said: “The defendant went to the back of the room and he put on what they describe as a balaclava or a ski mask.”

The staff asked him to take it off, but Ibrahim then put it back on and produced a water bottle and poured a clear liquid over himself and the floor.

The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss)

Mr Cooper said the security staff smelled what appeared to be petrol or diesel, before Ibrahim then raised a lighter.

He told the court that one of the guards said: “please stop sir, don’t do it” while Ibrahim said: “you come near me and I will”.

The building was evacuated and police were called.

When an officer arrived, he also smelled diesel or petrol and saw the lighter in Ibrahim’s hand.

Ibrahim showed the officer a video that appeared to show him being evicted from his social house over his alleged cannabis smoking, which the defendant denied.

Emergency service were called to the scene (Image: Newsquest)

He said he had been homeless since then and had been sleeping rough near the town hall, which made his college studies very difficult.

The officer said he might be able to help Ibrahim with his housing problems and kicked the bottle top towards him.

Ibrahim, of no fixed abode, eventually put the top back on the bottle and was arrested before being interviewed by police.

Mr Cooper said: “Essentially, he was trying to force the council to take notice of him and his situation.”

He said the defendant claimed he had not intended to set himself on fire.

The building was evacuated (Image: Newsquest)

Brought before Wigan and Leigh Magistrates Court Ibrahim, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to threats to damage or destroy property.

Peter Malone, defending, said: “He did want to get the attention of the council, but he accepts this was completely the wrong way about getting it.”

He said that Ibrahim disputed that he had been smoking cannabis that led to his eviction, and pointed out the liquid he had been holding had never been tested to see if it was in fact fuel.

Mr Malone said Ibrahim deserved credit for his guilty plea and had shown remorse since then but that this was an incident where “consequential thinking failed”.

He said the defendant “appreciated people would have been frightened”.

Judge Rachel Galloway reminded the court of how other people at town hall that day would have felt.

She said: “In essence you threatened to set yourself alight with a lighter in your hand.

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“This must have been a frightening experience for the people around you.”

She added: “I understand that you wanted to get the attention of the council, but this was the wrong way to do that in hindsight.”

Judge Galloway accepted that Ibrahim had been dealing with various problems and that he had already served three months in prison on remand.

She sentenced him to an 18 month community order with 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Source – INDIA TV