‘Petulant’ 81-year-old started £170,000 blaze at Blidworth care home after being told off for smoking

Sheila Foreman set fire to the curtains in her room at Hatzfield House before leaving and shouting for help on February 21, 2023, said Alex Wolfson, prosecuting.

The blaze completely destroyed that section of the care home which provides specialist support for adults with complex needs including alcohol related brain disease, Asperger’s, schizophrenia and dementia.

The ordeal caused “considerable upset” to the vulnerable residents and made subsequent fire tests "very difficult” as many of them thought there was a real fire, Mr Wolfson added.

Earlier that day Foreman had been smoking in non-smoking areas, took offence when her lighters were confiscated and was truculent towards staff, Nottingham Crown Court heard on Thursday.

Dr Charles Olojugba, the consultant psychiatrist responsible for Foreman, said she has been diagnosed with vascular dementia and emotionally unstable personality disorder.

He said there has been further deterioration in her condition since the incident and she poses a risk to herself and others.

At the moment she is detained at the appropriate level of security, he confirmed.

Foreman, now of St Andrews Hospital, Northampton, was convicted of arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered by a jury after denying she started the fire deliberately.

Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said it was a very sad case and “an act of clear petulance” that was “reckless with regard to the lives of others.”

“Other patients were distressed and the running of the entire facility was prejudiced for some time,” he said.

He imposed a Section 37 Hospital Order so Foreman will remain in hospital, rather than prison, because of her mental disorders.

Fire crews from Blidworth, Mansfield, Ashfield, Edwinstowe, Hucknall, Arnold and Highfields attended the “significant fire” with a large amount of smoke coming from her room.

Staff had attempted to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher, but when the fire became too developed, they followed emergency procedures by calling 999 and evacuating residents to the nearby R.E.A.L Independent School.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service later praised staff at the home for acting quickly and professionally.