The Palma High Court yesterday handed down a sentence of 17 and a half years to a suspect found guilty of having started 24 forest fires.
Palma.—The public prosecution was pushing for a maximum sentence of 78 years, but yesterday, the accused was sentenced to 17 and a half years after being found guilt for having apparently started a total of 24 forest fires in Majorca and Minorca during the summer of 2012.
20 of those fires were started in Majorca and the remaining four in Minorca destroying a total of 69 hectares of woodland, in particular around the area of Bendinat.
The suspect was finally arrested in September 2012 and since then, has been held on remand in Palma prison, waiting for his trial to come to court.
It was September 2012 that he was finally arrested in Minorca after having embarked on his arson spree on 16 June.
Apparently, he used toilet paper, candles and a lighter to start the fires.