A FORMER care worker who set fire to a nursing home was jailed for eight years after a judge told him it was only the bravery of staff and fire officers which prevented fatalities among elderly and vulnerable residents.
Darren Stephen Hayes, aged 30, of Cranbrook Close, Halliwell was so angry at being suspended by his bosses at Shannon Court in The Haulgh that he poured petrol into the basement laundry and set it on fire.
The explosion blew Hayes out of the building and set his clothes alight. He suffered 60 percent burns to his body and spent four months in hospital before police could question him about the arson attack.
None of the 53 residents of the home, who had to be evacuated, were injured.
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