Riot thug who finally admitted burning down historic furniture store is jailed for 11 years and six months

A looter has been jailed for eleven and a half years for starting a huge fire that destroyed a 140-year-old furniture shop during last summer's riots.

Gordon Thompson, 34, was sentenced at the Old Bailey for arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered at House of Reeves in Croydon, south London, and burglary.

The blaze was so fierce that buildings on the other side of the street and tramlines in the road caught alight.

Judge Peter Thornton told him: 'This day was a bad day for Croydon and the people of Croydon. Perhaps the most shocking event was that the House of Reeves was set alight and burned to the ground, putting lives at risk.'

He said the shop 'had stood on the site for over 140 years, proudly giving its name to its location, Reeves Corner. You were about to bring all that to an end'.         More