Arson Attacks in Central Norwich

Dear City Councillors, County Councillors, MP, Housing Officer, and anyone else who cares!

I am writing to you with my concerns over a number of incidents which have occurred in West Pottergate, Norwich. I live in a block of six council owned flats with my fiancée and our three year old daughter. We are on the first floor, the communal staircase our only exit.

Since I moved in six months ago there have been numerous incidents involving a resident in the block, Shirley Temple (name changed for legal reasons). We are all aware that she has some mental health difficulties and I have personally witnessed several suicide attempts and episodes involving self harm. This distresses me and has also had an effect on my daughter – it is impossible to hide the fortnightly police and ambulance visits from her, let alone the screaming, shouting and blood in communal areas. I am aware that Ms Temple has a social worker and assumed that she has made the council aware of the situation. In my opinion it has not been safe for Ms Temple to be living in this block and she needs more specialised care.

Recently my concerns have revolved less around the danger Ms Temple presents to herself and more around the dangers faced by my family. On 20^th May of this year there was a fire outside our front door whilst we were sleeping. The fire brigade were able to extinguish the fire and clear the smoke and we considered ourselves very lucky indeed not to have had to escape through a window. The fire officers were certain the fire was arson and our suspicions were that Ms Temple was responsible. After police questioning however, she was released without charge.

On Friday 27^th August my fiancée noticed another fire on the communal landing, and after the fire service made the building safe we were advised to contact the police. As it was late at night we arranged for officers to visit in the morning. I awoke to find that during the night there had been several more fires on each level of the building after the initial incident. On the ground floor a plastic table had been burnt seriously damaging nearby electrics, on the top floor a bike had been stuffed with newspaper and burnt to the ground and several bin bags had also been set alight. Police collected forensic evidence and arrested Ms Temple. She was later bailed for six weeks whilst evidence is examined, but the police were not confident that anything substantial would be uncovered.

On Monday 30^th August my family and I were watching a film when again we smelt burning. A bin bag had been placed in front of my neighbour’s door on our landing and set alight. The fire brigade and police arrived yet again and Ms Temple was arrested and kept in overnight. I am sure you will appreciate how concerned we were when she returned to the building on Tuesday afternoon. Reluctant to let her in, Ms Temple returned with a police escort in order to gain access to the building. All residents voiced their concerns and eventually a social worker arrived to take Ms Temple into respite care for the next week.

We have been told by police and council workers that despite their certainty that Shirley Temple is behind the arson attacks there is nothing they can do. There is a lack of hard evidence and until someone sees her actually set fire to something or she admits it then she is free to continue living in our building. Think about the time and money spent by the emergency services on attending to Ms Temple and the incidents she has caused; the time and money spent by the council on fielding our comments and complaints and cleaning and repairing our building; the stress, worry and ill health all residents in the block are suffering from; the heartache if the worst happens and we aren’t all able to escape the building should one of these fires take hold. None of this is necessary. Someone needs to take control of the situation and do something before the situation becomes even more out of control.

I hope you will take this matter as seriously as needed. I have sent copies of my concerns to several people.

Yours sincerely,

Alexandra Hunter

alex@technosprout.com