Good Job, Magistrates...!

...that ought to do it, right?

Emma Wyborn, mitigating, said the offending could be the result of bereavement.

"He was previously brought up by a grandmother from a very early age. Very sadly, the grandmother passed away last February and it was a very difficult year for Mr Hotchkiss and the rest of the family," said Miss Wyborn.

Presumably they aren't all starting fires?

She said that Hotchkiss has passed English and maths exams at Nottingham College where he is regarded as a "hardworking student."

He lives with his mother and has a support worker.

Miss Wyborn said he would welcome working regularly with one probation officer who knows all the details of his case.

"It would be beneficial to have the consistency of a probation officer. The privatised sector of the probation service, particularly with vulnerable people, often don't have that consistency.

"He needs to build up a rapport," added Miss Wyborn.

Yes, most conmen prefer to work on one target at a time, it's so much easier...

A probation report said that Hotchkiss is a "high risk of re-offending from statistical calculations.

"I am not saying we can reduce the risk. What I am saying is we can manage it," the report added.

Too much to hope he sets fire to a probation officer's house next time..?

He was ordered to pay a total of £170 as prosecution costs and a government surcharge. The court heard that fire crews attended each incident, with the cost calculated at £265 an hour.

Well, he's really paying his debt to society, isn't he?