Teenager, 15, jailed for school arson

A Bay of Plenty teenager has been jailed for two years for torching his school causing $5 million worth of damage.

James Harris, 15, was a student at Te Puke High when he committed the arson on Easter Sunday this year.

He appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday after earlier admitting a charge of intentionally damaging a building by fire, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.

Harris lit a fire in a plastic rubbish bin attached to a wooden deck. The fire destroyed a block of seven classrooms, which included the technology block, a workroom, teaching offices and storage room and equipment inside.

Most of the school's students used the block and a substantial amount of course work was ruined.

The replacement cost was estimated at $5m, the court was told.

Crown prosecutor Hayley Derrick sought up to five years' imprisonment. Less than 24 hours earlier, Harris had started other fires, she said.

Harris' lawyer Tony Balme argued for a sentence of intensive supervision coupled with community work, saying it was appropriate given the "low level of culpability" involved.

There was no evidence Harris had intended to burn down the buildings, he said.

Judge Thomas Ingram sentenced Harris to two years' prison but granted Harris bail after his lawyer said he would appeal the sentence.

- NZPA