Published: Tuesday, 19th February, 2008 11:30
Arson mystery: do you know this man?
By Adam Hewitt
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CCTV image taken at Riverside House, Fobney Street.
IS this the face of the arsonist who destroyed thousands of pounds worth of property in just two hours at the weekend?
The image comes from CCTV at Riverside House in Fobney Street, Reading, the first place to be hit in the arson wave which wrecked eight vehicles and a bin compound between 3-5am on Saturday.
It is thought the arsonist knew the PIN for the secure car park beneath Riverside House, and let himself in to douse three cars with flammable liquid, then set them alight by reaching in through metal grates from the outside.
One of the cars, a £58,000 limited edition BMW M3, was owned by distraught Theodoros Christoudes.
Mr Christoudes, who was born in Cyprus but has been living here for eight years, was on holiday there when the arsonist struck, and heard the terrible news about his car when he arrived home just hours later.
He said: “There were only 1,400 ever built, and it is even rarer now. Most did end up in the UK, but some ended up being used for racing. It was better than immaculate - it was a beautiful, beautiful car.
“I’m sure the police will catch him now they’ve seen his face, but there’s a tendency in this country to give the criminal a slap on the wrist and let him go, I’m worried he won’t be punished enough.
“You can see his face on the CCTV, he’s calm, he’s not smiling or laughing or messing around. He knew the PIN number and got in, put something flammable on the cars and lit them from the outside.
“It’s still lying there. I won’t start looking to replace it just yet, until we’ve 'buried’ it first, and had some kind of funeral. It really was like a member of the family.”
The building had to be evacuated as firefighters dealt with the car park inferno, which also destroyed a black Audi A4 and a grey Lexus.
The arsonist also torched a storage hut holding five communal bins in Southampton Street, a Vauxhall Corsa in Maltings Place, and started two fires in Waldeck Street, destroying a white van and three cars, and damaging a block of garages.
Fire crews from as far away as Wargrave and Mortimer had to be called in to deal with all the fires, joining teams from across Reading.
Anyone with information can contact police on 0845 8 505 505, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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