Man who torched mattress 'wanted to kill everybody'

Arsonist handed 30-month jail sentence

- Sentinel Reporter

AN arsonist was high on 'a mixture of painkillers and drugs' when he set fire to his mattress.

Marcus Beardwood decided to put a flame to his bed 'on the spur of the moment.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the 37-year-old then rang 999 within 30 seconds of starting the blaze. When firefighters arrived on the scene in Biddulph, they saw Beardwood was 'intoxicated' and was shouting that he 'wanted to kill himself and kill everybody'.