A TEENAGE girl has been sentenced to 10 months in detention for setting fires inside three shops and assaulting and racially abusing several people.

The 17-year-old girl, from Hampshire, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to all charges at Basingstoke youth court on Monday, January 16.

After considering reports from a psychiatrist and youth offending team who explained the serious problems the teenager faced since she was a child, a district judge said that the girl has a “desperate need for stability which can only be achieved in the immediate future by restriction of liberty”.

The offences took place in August 2022.

Prosecuting, Natalie Cheesman said the first offence took place at around 10pm when she “shouted and screamed racially aggravated abuse” from the first floor of her house.

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There were a further two incidents on a later date at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. While she was standing outside A&E, she assaulted and shouted racially aggravated abuse at two people. 

Then another date, she set fires inside three shops in Winchester.

At around 11.30am, she set fire to a table upstairs in McDonald’s on St George's Street and when the staff tried to stop her, she threatened to stab them.

Later at around midday, she entered clothing retailer FatFace on the High Street and set fire to a red shirt using a gas lighter and a can of deodorant. She also told the staff that she would burn them if they touched her.

After that she went to Marks and Spencer and set fire to napkins inside the cafe, and then a black blouse in the clothing area. She again threatened the staff and assaulted two people.

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Defence counsel Jessica Goldring read a letter from the teenager. She said she takes responsibility for the offences and that she committed them so that she would get attention from the social care system.

Sentencing, district judge Tim Pattinson said it was a very sad case.

The judge said: “Many people have done their best in this case to help her. Sadly, by August of last year, she was in a very dark and difficult phase when she cried for help and saw the only way she could obtain help was by breaking the law.

“She has a desperate need for stability which can only be achieved in the immediate future by restriction of liberty.

“The assaults and the two public order charges are very serious. There are victims who received physical harm and disgusting racial abuse. They are very serious, but not as serious to need custodial sentences.

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“What particularly concerns me is the serious risk to members of the public in the arson attack. They are so serious that I must impose custody.

“This is a difficult case, partly because of the risk to the public and also because of the risk of self-harm. All professionals agree that there is a need for a secure environment in the immediate future.”

The judge also ordered that the six victims of her physical and racial assaults receive compensation of £15 each, making it a total of £90.

The judge said: “I hope they won’t find it insulting, but my hands are tied here. I’m really not able to award more than that. It is a token payment, but the offender should know that there are consequences.”

She was spared of any surcharge and any court charges.