Edenbridge Arsonist Jailed

A four-year sentence has been handed out

An arsonist who threatened police officers and firefighters with a hammer has been jailed.

Daniel Rutter set fire to the ground floor of an Edenbridge home following a dispute with a woman known to him.

Due to his extremely aggressive behaviour, he had to be tasered at the scene of the offence before he was safely detained.

The 48-year-old, of Wellingtonia Way, Edenbridge, admitted arson, two counts of criminal damage and three counts of common assault against an emergency services worker.

He was sentenced to four years imprisonment for the offences at the Nightingale Court in Maidstone on Friday 2 July 2021.

He was also recalled to prison to serve a discretionary life sentence, imposed in 2000, for a serious assault committed outside of Kent. At the time he was sentenced to a minimum of seven years, with a life licence also imposed.

At around 12.30 am on Sunday 25 April 2021, Kent Police and Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire at a house in Wellingtonia Way.

Rutter was present at the scene and, while armed with two hammers, threatened to assault two attending firefighters before running back inside the burning building. He also used the weapons to smash a window.

Attending officers located him in the ground floor of the address, prompting the offender to run outside and swing a hammer at a constable. As he did this, a taser was deployed to safely bring him under control.

The fire was then safely extinguished, with no one injured as a result of the blaze. Extensive damage, worth an estimated £30,000, was caused to the ground floor of the address and two hamsters were found deceased inside.

A subsequent investigation uncovered that he had been involved in a dispute with a woman, who is known to him, throughout the previous day.

The dispute led to him attending the property and using a cigarette lighter to set alight the curtains in a downstairs living room.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Barker, from Kent Police, said:
‘Rutter’s actions were excessively violent and could have easily led to a person dying.

‘He has shown himself to be a controlling man who subjected the woman to intolerable levels of abuse. Such behaviour shows he is a clear threat to women.

‘In addition to this, the abuse he directed towards firefighters and our officers was completely unjustified and unacceptable.

‘I am pleased that he has been held to account and that a dangerous offender is now behind bars.’