A St. John’s man has been sentenced to three years in prison for starting a fire at a downtown heritage property this time last year.
Thirty-two-year-old Alex Hayes was initially charged with setting four separate fires in the same area over a short span of time.
They included shed fires behind homes on Empire Avenue and Fraser’s Lane, as well as a blaze at Freshwater Auto.
The Crown, however, withdrew those three arson charges in exchange for the single guilty plea involving 1 Bonaventure Avenue.
(Photo courtesy Edward Harold Butler)
Hayes was captured on video walking around the property next to The Rooms, known as The Observatory, shortly before a shed behind the home caught fire on January 25th of last year.
Police circulated an image of the suspect, who was later identified as Hayes by residents of The Gathering Place, where he had had been staying.
Hayes appeared in court Friday morning by video from HMP, where he’s been in custody since his arrest last year.
He was sentenced to three years, but given credit for double the time he’s already spent behind bars, largely due to the deplorable conditions at the Pen.
That leaves him with about one year left to serve.
Hayes will then be subject to two years’ probation, and must submit a DNA sample to go with his criminal record.
