An arsonist who avoided jail despite starting nearly a dozen fires has complained after a judge ordered him to pay compensation to his victims that is a small fraction of the damage he caused.
Richard Gausden caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage in a series of offences, including one which destroyed a forklift truck and left a barn needing repairs costing more than £40,000.
He had been told he faced jail at a court hearing last year but won a reprieve this month after his lawyer argued he had been ‘trying to fit in’ with the wrong crowd.
Gausden, 27, was given a 16-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay just £10,000 in compensation to his victims.
He apologised afterwards, saying his behaviour was ‘part of growing up’ and he was now a reformed character.
Richard Gausden (pictured) caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage in a series of offences, including one which destroyed a forklift truck and left a barn needing repairs costing more than £40,000
Gausden was given a 16-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay just £10,000 in compensation to his victims. He apologised afterwards, saying his behaviour was ‘part of growing up’ and he was now a reformed character
Hall Farm in Suffield where Gausden was arrested shortly after he torched 100 hay bales on March 4, 2020, causing £4,000 worth of damage (google maps)
But he moaned that he would struggle to pay the £1,000-a-month compensation on his pay as a night shift worker at a hotel.
‘I’m relieved this is all settled and done with now and I hope the victims have it in them to forgive me,’ he said.
‘But I’m not pleased that the judge thinks I can afford these fines. It’s unrealistic.
‘There are bills and outgoings I have I’m convinced he [the judge, although it was actually a woman] had not considered. Importantly, I have a two-year-old boy who is my purpose in life now and what is keeping me focused and working hard.
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‘I made a mistake and I am the first to hold my hands up to that. The thing is, I wasn’t the only person involved, yet I was the only person to get done for it, which is frustrating and very unfair.
‘We have all done stupid things. It’s part of life and growing up. I was a boy then and have changed.’
His father, also called Richard, declined to comment when contacted by the Mail about his complaint despite being given a second chance.
He said: ‘I don’t want to talk to you. Bye.’
Richard Seaman, of Lodge Farm, Suffield, who had a £1,500 stack of straw bales set alight by Gausden, said: ‘I’d have said he was very lucky [that he escaped jail].
‘Unfortunately, they’re locking up everyone for the riots at the moment, so the jails are probably full.’
Gausden was arrested shortly after he torched 100 hay bales at Hall Farm in Suffield, Norfolk, on March 4, 2020, causing £4,000 worth of damage.
Police who stopped his car in North Walsham noticed a strong smell of petrol from a liquor bottle which had filled with fuel at a petrol station earlier that day.
Days earlier, Gausden had destroyed the straw bales at nearby Lodge Farm.
He admitted the two offences during a hearing at Norwich Magistrates Court last year and also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting arson at a third farm in 2019 that caused £43,000 of damage to a barn and wrote off a £16,000 forklift truck.
Norfolk Crown Court where Gausden case was later transferred (stock image)
He also admitted a separate offence of causing criminal damage to a car in December 2019, while he wanted nine other matters to be taken into consideration – eight arson attacks and one of criminal damage.
At the earlier hearing, District Judge David Wilson ordered an all-options pre-sentence report and told the defendant: ‘I do not provide any guarantee that the option my be anything other than immediate custody in your case.’
The case was later transferred to crown court, where cases are heard if magistrates courts believe their sentencing powers are not sufficient.
Martin Ivory, representing Gausden at the hearing last week, said his client had been drinking at the time and trying to ‘ingratiate’ himself with the wrong types of people.
The defendant, who lives in Sheringham, had maturity issues, he added, but had waited four years to learn what punishment he would receive, which should be taken into account.
Judge Alice Robinson told Gausden: ‘Setting any kind of fire is a very serious offence which has the potential to do untold and unexpected damage because you can’t control the fire and don’t know what’s going to happen.’
She added he must also do 180 hours of unpaid work and complete a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
