Man jailed over hospital fire causing £50k worth of damage after smoking while wearing oxygen mask

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A man has been jailed after admitting to causing a serious fire in a Cardiff hospital by attempting to smoke a cigarette while wearing an oxygen mask.

Lee Williams, of Treherbert in the Rhondda valley, was sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to arson with intent to endanger life and assaulting an emergency worker.  

The fire caused almost £50,000 worth of damage, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Nurses had to evacuate 38 patients as thick smoke filled the ward at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, the court heard.

Andrew Kendall, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Williams was an inpatient at the hospital and needed oxygen for his treatment.

By 8 May, when the incident took place, Williams had been in the hospital for two weeks and had been warned by nurses on three previous occasions after he was found smoking.

On the day before the blaze, he was found in bed with a lit cigarette while he appeared to be sleeping. The court heard that Williams told nurses he would smoke if he wanted to.

After the fire, Mr Kendall told the court, “the ward was forced to close for two weeks and medical staff had treatment for smoke inhalation”.

The fire caused £47,500 in damage and Williams suffered a blackened nose and injuries to his mouth.

Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “You were told in the clearest terms you could not smoke in the hospital.

“The dangers of fire were made clear to you. Your response was: 'I don't care, it is my decision to have a cigarette'.

“You put at risk the life of the doctor who rushed to treat you, the two nurses who helped, the security staff who put out the fire, and the 38 patients who had to be evacuated in the thick smoke.”