Mosque arson - accused takes to the stand

Richard Hall, 29, formerly of Westbourne Avenue, Worthing, is on trial at Chichester Crown Court for arson and burglary of the Worthing Islamic Centre in 2005. He denies the charges.

Hall appeared in the witness box on Wednesday afternoon to describe his "confession" to the mosque arson a year after it happened.

The court had earlier heard from Sharon Wedden, a receptionist at Crawley Police Station, that Mr Hall had walked into the reception area on the evening of May 18 last year and admitted setting fire to the mosque.

She said Mr Hall had claimed "I set fire to the mosque in Worthing. I want to be arrested now".

Miss Wedden added he had said he had had an argument with his girlfriend, who he said was a Muslim, and "that's why I did it". She said he added he was "Muslim at heart".

Mr Hall, who the court heard has an IQ of 66 and a poor short term memory, said a combination of anti-depressant drugs and two and a half pints of Fosters lager had led to him becoming "agitated".

He described visiting the George Hotel with carer George David earlier that day and being questioned by Mr David about the arson case.

He said he became uncomfortable by the questioning and the loss of his mobile phone, which led him to leave the pub for the police station at 9.40pm to report it missing.

Mr Hall said Mr David continued to question him about the case, as they entered the police station.

He said: "He knew there was a case going on. He just digged and digged and digged things about it."

"George was saying 'don't go in there, they might know your name'".

"I said something like 'if you want me to say I done the arson I will'"

"When I'm agitated I say things and repeat and repeat them."

He added he was very upset at the time and denied setting fire and burgling the mosque, claiming he had walked his girlfriend home after a night out and then gone home to bed.

Andrew Campbell-Tiech QC, prosecuting, said suggestions Mr Hall had an extended family of brothers and sisters in the area he had never met were "a smokescreen" to explain irrefutable DNA evidence.

He added Mr Hall was "hiding" behind his explanation of the "confession" and suggested he had committed the offences because it was "fun".

On Thursday (May 17) the court heard from Hall's adoptive mother, Patricia Hall.

Mrs Hall was asked what happened when her son returned from the police station after allegedly confessing that he started the fire because he had had an argument with his muslim girlfriend.

She said: "Ricky came home, he was very upset. He was crying and very agitated. My husband said he had apparently confessed to the fire."

Mrs Hall said she calmed him down faced him and looked into his eyes and asked: "Are you saying you did the fire?"

She told the jury her son then said: "No I didn't but I might as well have done because no-one believes me."

Mrs Hall then asked her son why he had made the confession.

She said: "He said 'you and dad are going through all of this stress, I am stressed, the whole family is stressed. I thought this would put an end to it all'."

Mrs Hall went on to admit her son was capable of being manipulative.

Summing up the case today (Thursday) Mr Campbell-Tiech said the blood at the scene matched Hall's and if he wasn't the person at the scene someone would have to have been "wet with his blood or carrying his wet blood".

Mr Campbell-Tiech said: "That is absurd. We would have to imagine he had a running cut and came into contact with someone and transferred the wet blood."

Mr Campbell-Tiech went on to explain that there was a small chance someone else could have the same DNA as Hall.

"The chance of that in someone unrelated to him is one in a billion," he said.

"For a full sibling it would be one in 10,000 and for a half sibling, one in 10million."

Sarah Munro QC, defending, summed up her case by asking the jury not to focus on the "golden bullet" evidence of DNA.

She said: "To say it's his DNA, his blood, so it's him would be holy unfair and holy wrong. It doesn't prove identity."

Miss Munro went on to criticise the lack of investigation by the police and described the evidence of an eyewitness as "completely wrong".

She also questioned why none of the estimated 50 worth of coins Hall was alleged to have stolen from a payphone inside the mosque were never found and how he had managed to get hold of a bottle of white spirit.

She added that Hall's footwear was never seized by police despite footprints being found in the mosque, a place where shoes are not normally allowed.

The jury is expected to be sent out to consider a verdict tomorrow (Friday).

Previous article -

THE TRIAL has begun of a vicar's son accused of an arson attack on a Worthing mosque just over two years ago.

Richard Hall, 29, formerly of Westbourne Avenue, Worthing, denied arson and burglary of the Worthing Islamic Centre in 2005, when his trial started at Chichester Crown Court on Monday.

The attack, which included the theft of a payphone from an upstairs room, caused 25,000 worth of damage to the mosque when chairs and a mattress were piled into the centre of a downstairs prayer room and set alight.

Andrew Campbell-Tiech QC, prosecuting, told the jury at Chichester Crown Court that Mr Hall suffered learning difficulties and that those difficulties would be "quite a feature" of the case.

He said DNA evidence linking Mr Hall to the crime had been taken from various parts of the crime scene, such as doors and locks of the centre itself and burnt prayer mats.

He added that Mr Hall's DNA traces has also been found on a bottle of white spirit found outside the centre and a burnt piece of rag, adding that fire officers had confirmed white spirit had been used as "an accelerant" to the fire.

Referring to the wider social implications of the crime, Mr Campbell-Tiech said: "Anybody doing this should be aware of quite how inflammatory such an act might be.

"It may be his learning difficulties precluded a fuller understanding of the gravity of the acts committed."

He said Mr Hall had denied the offences in police interviews and offered no explanation as to how his DNA was discovered at the scene.

He said: "The absence of an explanation provides only one explanation."

At a court hearing in 2005, Mr Hall was released on bail to live with his parents in Crawley after magistrates heard testimony from his priest father, the Reverend Adam Hall.

Richard Hall denies the charges. The case continues.