Expat firestarter fined millions in Spain

PUBLISHED: March 22, 2011 at 4:47 pm • LAST EDITED: December 30, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Granada • 11 Comments

• It took eight days to bring the blaze under control

IT took 227 firefighters eight days to extinguish the blaze, using 12 planes and 20 helicopters.

And now a British man has been fined a record 10 million euros for starting a fire that razed 2000 hectares of the Sierra Nevada national park.

Michael Hanks, 66, had lit the fire in a bid to be spotted by rescuers.

The former head of Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association – who owns a holiday home in the village of Acequias – had got lost in the park, while out walking with his French girlfriend.

This week, a Granada court took a dim view of his error in September 2005 and slapped the largest ever fine and an 18 month prison sentence on him.

His only mitigating factor was that he had apparently put a ring of stones around the fire before starting it.

At the time, a fireman told the Olive Press: “They were very lucky not to have died.”

Did you like this? Share it:

Reader Comments »

louie lou

March 22nd, 2011 6:39 pm

whoops……….

Gresham

March 22nd, 2011 11:37 pm

If Nanny had read him Struwwelpeter and ‘What Harriet Befell’ about the folly of playing with matches all this might have been avoided.

Jane Brooke

March 23rd, 2011 3:34 pm

Did the guy never do a Health and Safety Course?

Ian McCay

March 24th, 2011 11:38 am

Whenever one reads stories such as this, it is invariably the foreigner who started the fire or who gets the blame, with the emphasis on “foreigner”

Strange that…

Fred

March 24th, 2011 4:23 pm

The Olive Press is the best expat bashing publication on the Costas – a sort of ‘Costa Crime Watch’ lol.

Brian

March 25th, 2011 1:49 pm

10 cents a week

adrian

March 26th, 2011 7:44 pm

What a nutter! You could almost feel sorry for him because he clearly didn’t set out to do any harm – not exactly a pyromanic. BUT how stupid could anyone be?
As for a 10m euro fine, that seems a little bit silly. That’s like saying you should get a 1.5m euro fine for doing 60 in a 40 zone.

Fred

March 27th, 2011 6:38 pm

“That’s like saying you should get a 1.5m euro fine for doing 60 in a 40 zone.”

Don’t give them ideas Adrian.

yerma

March 28th, 2011 7:58 pm

idiot, especially as he has a house in the area

Matt

March 29th, 2011 2:02 pm

Where on earth is this man going to get 10 million Euros from? What he did was amazingly foolish but I’d be surprised if he’s got the money- if he has, well, it’s gone now isn’t it?

the best of spain

July 16th, 2011 12:38 pm

He sure made a STUPID mistake & will get “free room and board” for awhile. But 10 Million euros?… he’d have to
run for Office and be elected a Mayor!

Messages will be moderated or deleted if they:
• Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others
• Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable
• Contain swear words or other language likely to offend
• Break the law or condone or encourage unlawful activity. This includes breach of copyright, defamation and contempt of court
• Advertise products or services for profit or gain
• Are seen to impersonate someone else
• Include contact details such as phone numbers, postal or email addresses
• Describe or encourage activities which could endanger the safety or well-being of others

Back to the Top