Arsonist petrol-bombed Cambridgeshire doctors surgery after being refused heroin 'medication'

An arsonist who was denied heroin as "medication" by his doctor set fire to the surgery using petrol bombs in revenge.

Richard Naylor, 50, threw bottles of flammable liquid inside Fulbourn Health Centre in Cambridgeshire before fleeing as the flames took hold.

The attack in the early hours of 27 July 2021 destroyed parts of the busy practice at the height of the coronavirus vaccination programme, forcing patients to be moved to other surgeries for treatment, said Cambridgeshire Police.

CCTV footage showed he had walked to a nearby petrol station just hours before, filling a petrol canister which he took home and decanted into washing up bottles.

Naylor was arrested at his home in Haggis Gap, Fulbourn, later that morning. He swung a metal pole at police officers, and told them he had made the "petrol bombs to burn down the surgery".

He had previously threatened to burn down the surgery if he was not given heroin as "medication".

Naylor pleaded guilty to arson and threatening to destroy or damage property and was given an indefinite hospital order.

At the time of the attack the surgery was one of the main hubs for issuing coronavirus vaccinations in the area, said police.

Det Con Sarah Longbottom said: “Naylor targeted a busy doctor’s surgery in the height of a pandemic.

"The surgery was extensively damaged throughout and as a result of his actions, doctors, staff and patients were unable to use the surgery and had to be transferred elsewhere for a prolonged period of time."

Naylor was also given a Section 41 order, which means the Ministry of Justice must authorise his release.