A businessman has been given a suspended prison sentence after a blaze at his Bradford premises revealed he had breached safety rules for storing fireworks.
The city's crown court heard that 43-year-old Michael Cain was allowed to store 250 kilograms of fireworks at his city centre premises in Grattan Road, but an investigation into the early hours blaze last September discovered that more than 1,400kgs were being kept on site.
A hearing before magistrates earlier this year heard that when fire crews arrived on the scene fireworks were whizzing out of the windows of the Mr Fireworks premises and firefighters had to be withdrawn when the huge quantity of fireworks was discovered.
Cain, of Howgill Green, Woodside, Bradford, co-operated fully with the emergency services and pleaded guilty before the magistrates to three breaches of the safety regulations relating to the storage of explosives.
The magistrates committed Cain's case to the crown court for sentence and today his barrister Tahir Khan told Recorder Jeremy Freedman that the large quantity of fireworks was only being stored at the premises on a temporary basis and their presence had only come to light because an intruder broke in and deliberately started the blaze.
He said: "Mr Cain is somebody who deeply regrets the folly of what he did and he is unlikely ever to appear before the courts again."
Cain was said to have been left with debts of about £20,000 as a result of the blaze and Mr Khan described the crown court appearance as hugely embarrassing for a hard-working, decent man.
Mr Khan said his client had intended to distribute most of the fireworks to other commercial premises and was not planning to store that volume of fireworks for a significant length of time.
But Recorder Freedman said Cain's greed in wanting to sell as many fireworks as possible had created serious risks for a lot of people.
He said: "What you have to understand Mr Cain is that fireworks themselves are inherently dangerous.
"They can only be stored and sold if safe conditions are put in place. If they are not then the risk of danger is enormous.'' The judge branded Cain's behaviour as "criminally reckless" and said such a case clearly crossed the custody threshold.
He pointed out that the authorities imposed conditions on the storage of fireworks partly to guard against someone breaking in and setting fire to them.
"However I bear in mind all that has been said on your behalf and in particular the fact that this is an isolated episode," he added.
Recorder Freedman sentenced Cain to six months in jail but suspended that term for 12 months.
He will now be under supervison for a year and have to pay £1,000 in costs.
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