Keighley firebomber Mohammed Khalid is unlikely to be sentenced until the end of the year, it was revealed this week.

The 37-year-old father-of-five was convicted last December of starting a £2.5 million blaze which destroyed the town's Netto supermarket and two other buildings.

Sentencing was adjourned for psychiatric reports to be prepared and Khalid has been in Rampton Hospital since July. But Bradford Crown Court heard on Monday that a full psychiatric report will probably not be ready for another three months.

Defence counsel Tahir Khan said Khalid was seen at Doncaster Prison in February by two psychiatrists who agreed that he needed to be assessed at Rampton. Their reports were drawn to the court's attention in April, but a detention order could not be made until he had been seen by a representative from the north Nottingham-shire special hospital.

In June, Rampton's admissions panel confirmed he was suitable for assessment. He was admitted on July 24 after a detention order was made under the Mental Health Act. In August, the court made a further detention order when the hospital revealed that an assessment had not been completed.

Mr Khan said that last week defence solicitors wrote to Rampton expressing concern about the delays and it became clear during a telephone conversation that the report and assessment would not be ready in time. "The upshot is that the assessment will not be completed before possibly December or January," Mr Khan added.

Prosecuting counsel Graham Hyland QC commented: "It looks like it is going to be 12 months between conviction and sentence." Judge Gerald Coles QC agreed, adding: "That won't do."

Ordering that Khalid be detained at Rampton for a further 28 days, the judge again voiced his concern about the situation. The order has to be renewed every 28 days and the court will be given regular updates on progress.

Khalid, of Otterburn Street, Keighley, was convicted of arson with intent to endanger life and 12 offences of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.

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