A man who set off a huge explosion at a hotel when he tried to light a cigarette after spending all evening inhaling gas has been spared jail.
Paul Coote, 47, spent six and a half weeks in intensive care after suffering 85 per cent burns when the blast ripped through the hotel, causing more than £600,000 damage.
He had seven butane canisters that he had been breathing in to get high - causing a large build-up of the flammable gas in his room.
After falling asleep at the Peckham Lodge Hotel in south east London, he woke a short time later and tried to light a cigarette.
As he sparked the match a huge blast ripped through the 135-room hotel, causing 130 residents to be evacuated from the building.
Coote was the only person injured in the fire on January 23, 2021, and was lucky to survive.
The hotel room was destroyed as well as 10 per cent of the first floor, which left the hotel picking up a total repair bill of around £618,000.
Peckham Lodge Hotel was used to house homeless people during the Covid pandemic.
At Inner London Crown Court Coote was sentenced to a year in jail, but suspended for two years meaning he will not go to prison unless he commits another crime during that period.
During his trial, a jury found him guilty of 'simple arson' - because he did not intend to cause the fire.
Alex Bennie , prosecuting, told the court Coote breached restraining orders made against him when his ex-wife discovered he had an affair with one of her friends and their marriage came to an end.
A probation worker told Judge Vanessa Baraitser: “Mr Coote had a butane addiction in his youth which he then kicked for 20 years.”
This downward spiral caused him to relapse into butane use.
Alex Balancy, defending Coote, said the defendant "still suffers the consequences of his mistake and faces physical difficulties everyday".
He added that Coote, of Fulham, west London, has now turned his life around and has not touched butane since the blast.
