ARSONIST FACING LIFE FOR ATTACK ON FAMILY; Court told attempted killer 'a danger to public'.

Byline: PAUL HIGGINS 

A CRAZED arsonist who tried to kill a doctor and his family by setting fire to their house was warned yesterday he faces a life sentence.

Roy Kerr remained impassive in the dock of Belfast Crown Court as prosecuting QC Ciaran Murphy said he would be seeking reports on the level of danger the Scot posed to the public with a view to the imposition of a "discretionary life sentence".

The lawyer said: "The prosecution intends to put it before you that this man is a danger to the public and the appropriate way to protect the public will be the imposition of a life sentence.

Judge Geoffrey Miller told Mr Murphy and Kerr's defence team: "I'm actively considering the appropriateness of a life sentence in the matter".

Last Thursday Kerr, originally from Inverness but with an address at Shore Road in North Belfast, was unanimously convicted of trying to kill Dr Raymond White, his wife Aileen and son David when he set fire to their Kensington Road home in the east of the city in May last year.

UNANIMOUS

He was also found guilty of trying to set fire to the three family cars and of handling a Ford Focus which was stolen in Scotland.

After deliberating for almost three hours, the jury also convicted 21-year-old Tanya Holmes of trying to set fire to the cars and of handling the stolen vehicle.

But the jury unanimously acquitted her of three counts of attempted murder and of setting fire to the house with intent to endanger their lives. Holmes, with an address at the Simon Community Hostel, Coleraine, Co Derry, was unanimously convicted of the arson attack "being reckless as to whether their lives would be endangered".

Remanding the pair back in custody, Judge Miller adjourned sentencing until December when pre-sentence probation and psychiatric reports have been compiled and victim impact reports are lodged.

The three-week trial heard how Dr White, who has since died, was awoken in the early hours of May 8 last year by someone shouting in pain, only to find wheelie bins had been placed at each door of the house and set alight.

When he and David investigated, they saw a man and a woman fleeing from the scene and noticed there was a green petrol container on fire on the patio and that paper had been stuffed into the wheel arches of their cars.

Kerr and Holmes were arrested hours later after he had gone to the Mater Hospital for treatment to his burned hands.

The attack happened on the day that Mrs White was due to give evidence against Kerr who was accused of handling her stolen Renault.

During the inquiry, cops seized CCTV footage from a filling station on the Upper Newtownards Road which showed Kerr and Holmes driving in a stolen Ford Focus and buying a green plastic petrol container, petrol and a disposable lighter.