Prolific criminal found with knife after setting fire to a van parked near a nursery

MAN HAS 181 PREVIOUS OFFENCES TO HIS NAME

- By MARK NAYLOR

A PROLIFIC criminal with a huge list of 181 previous offences was found with a potentially lethal knife - not long after he had set fire to a van that was parked near a nursery.

Heavy drinker Ben Dobson was seen "making a run for it" after starting the fire but he was identified as being responsible for setting the van alight.

He later became very aggressive and threatening towards police, Hull Crown Court heard.

Dobson, 38, of no fixed address, but recently in custody on remand, admitted offences of arson and possessing a knife in Bridlington on July 10.

Nadim Bashir, prosecuting, said that the manager of a children's nursery in Quay Road, Bridlington, noticed that a Ford Transit van had been parked in nearby Blenheim Road for a long time without being moved. People had been living in the van.