Arsonist admits Stamfordham Road barber shop fire which left four in hospital in Newcastle
An arsonist has admitted he intended to put lives at risk when he started a barber shop blaze that left four people in hospital including one man who had been "on fire".
Emergency services were called to Amed's Hair Design, on Stamfordham Road, in the West End of Newcastle, shortly after 10am on May 23 last year.
The Great North Air Ambulance also attended and four people were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries.
Dilovan Sindi, 40, of Sulgrave Road, Washington, Tyne and Wear, initially faced attempted murder charges.
However, just before his trial was due to start at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday (25 September), he pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life, attempted wounding and causing grievous bodily harm, which prosecutors accepted.
No further details about what happened were given during the hearing or what motivation was behind the blaze.
Sindi will be sentenced in December and has been remanded in custody.
Judge Robert Adams said: "It is inevitably a custodial sentence, of some length."
Pictures taken at the scene show forensic teams and police outside the shop.
One local, who wished to remain anonymous, said on the day he had been out walking his dog when he came across a man on fire outside the burning shop.
He said: "I was walking my dog nearby when I saw three people coming out of the barbers.
"They seemed to come out but then they wanted to go back in. I thought there must have been a fight inside.
"All of a sudden there was smoke from the barbers and about two minutes later the guy came 20 yards away from the shop.
"As he got nearer you could tell he was on fire. It was really bad.
"I started shouting for him to get on the ground. I ran onto the road and tried to pat the fire out. I was patting him with one hand and had my dog in the other.
"A lady managed to get hold of a blanket but the real hero of the day was a truck driver who had a fire extinguisher with him. He just happened to be passing."
The man added: "It was so out of the blue. I couldn't believe my eyes. It took me 20 seconds to process what was happening. When I did realise what was going on I tried to help as best as I could.
"I could also hear someone else shouting from inside the shop while this was all going on. I got the impression this person was trapped inside the barbers.
"He did eventually come out when the emergency services were here but he looked burned too."
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