'Hollywood Arsonist' facing jail for £2.2m fire damage

A German dubbed the "Hollywood Arsonist" is facing decades in prison for setting dozens of fires which caused over £2m in damage.

Harry Burkhart, 29, was convicted on Thursday of 43 incidents of arson to properties and dwellings across Los Angeles nearly five years ago.

The fires caused roughly £2.2m in damage, although nobody was injured in any of the incidents.

Burkhart is now facing a jail sentence of more than 88 years in prison, according to the local district attorney's office.

A jury heard that Burkhart lit the fires because he was enraged by the deportation of his Russian-born mother who was ordered to be extradited to Germany to face criminal charges.

Burkhart set more than 40 fires in the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley and in nearby West Hollywood between 30 December 2011 and his arrest on 2 January the following year.

The jury took less than a day to return their verdicts.