Attempted arson at Southampton job centre in Bernard Street

12:12pm Tuesday 9th August 2011 in News Photograph of the Author By Jon Reeve, Education Reporter

Attempted arson at Southampton job centre Attempted arson at Southampton job centre

POLICE are investigating a suspected attempted arson attack on a Southampton job centre.

Windows were smashed at the Bernard Street Jobcentre Plus office late last night and "an accelerant" poured in, but no fire was ignited.

Specialist police and fire officers from Hampshire's arson investigation team have spent the morning at the scene and the incident is now being treated as suspected arson.

Location of the job centre in Southampton city centre

It is not yet known what accelerant was used in the Southampton benefits office attack, or what attempts, if any, were actually made to ignite it.

Hampshire police are asking anyone who saw the building being targeted, or knows anything about the incident, to call Shirley CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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Comments(25)

SFC4EVA says...
12:25pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Probably carried ou by some brain-dead-moron-scu
mbags who are so thick they forgot matches or a lighter!

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the-blogger says...
12:29pm Tue 9 Aug 11

sounds about right !

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userds5050 says...
12:35pm Tue 9 Aug 11

townieboy wrote:
Who would try to burn this building down ? People trying to destroy there records of scamming the system comes to mind. Hope there are plenty of back ups.
Er, the same sort of people who are setting London alight.

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Darkangelv2 says...
1:59pm Tue 9 Aug 11

How grave a message this is for Southampton... Our criminal element can't even remember the 3rd side of the 'Fire Triangle'! Heat you idiots HEAT!!

Even the scum of Birmingham managed to remember that!

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ColaCola says...
2:00pm Tue 9 Aug 11

The thugs are so thick they thought about burning it down until a semi-intelligent one pointed out they wouldn't be able to sign on to collect their benfits!!!!!

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Sotonians_lets_pull_together says...
2:11pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Anyone alarmed at Southampton riot rumours should follow #Hantspolice on twitter

http://twitter.com/h
antspolice

As of a few minutes ago, they tweeted: "No reports of disorder anywhere in #Hants or #IOW at this time." "Please keep calm and check our feed for accurate info"

They are doing a marvellous job of keeping people informed, stopping panic, and rumour, and tracking and referring for criminal investigation any fools who attempt to incite riots on social media

eg:twitter users inciting riot have been sent messages similar to this "It is an offence to commit or encourage riot. Your msg has been referred for consideration for criminal investigation #police"


Further recent tweets from Hantspolice:

"CSupt Karen Manners is leading our response to events in #London and its impact on policing in #Hampshire and the #IsleofWight"

"CSupt Manners “It’s understandable that having watched the national media, people may be concerned but our streets are safe"

"I can assure you that we have NO reports of disorder in #Southampton at this time. We are fully prepared if that changes."

"No reports of disorder whatsoever in #Southampton or in fact anywhere across the two counties at this time."

Residents have been sending messages of support to Hants Police: "So proud to be from Southampton right now. @HantsPolice use of social networking last night to inform & calm communities was excellent!"

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ColaCola says...
2:24pm Tue 9 Aug 11

What if you're not on Twitter?!?!

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tootle says...
2:29pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Having recently assisted somebody with a problem claiming I find trying to burn the place down quite understandable. To date there are no records of the 2 "official" complaints I made. Patience is a virtue, the system is workable.

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Sotonians_lets_pull_together says...
2:35pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Colacola,

They have put a statement on the echo website, and I imagine they will be talking to local news and radio - they probably have been already

You dont need a twitter account to look at Hantspolice twitter feed on the web:

http://twitter.com/h
antspolice

Also, good news, the police are starting to arrest those who incite riot on social media...

Sky have just reported that per the Strathclyde Police a 16-year-old boy has been detained in Glasgow on suspicion of trying to encourage riots via Facebook.

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Sotonians_lets_pull_together says...
4:09pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Per Hantspolice twitter feed at 4pm: "No reports of looting, disorder, violence anywhere in #Hampshire or #IOW. Please keep calm, we'll update you if anything happens."

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Rob444 says...
4:33pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Most likely candidate is a benefits agency employee who is fed up with the government's interference with their terms of employment.

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rich the stitch says...
4:39pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Darkangelv2 wrote:
How grave a message this is for Southampton... Our criminal element can't even remember the 3rd side of the 'Fire Triangle'! Heat you idiots HEAT!! Even the scum of Birmingham managed to remember that!
Ha ha, very good.

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OSPREYSAINT says...
4:50pm Tue 9 Aug 11

How about a poll to see who is in favour of the action and who is against it?

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TattooBubbles says...
5:09pm Tue 9 Aug 11

I have heard from people in the area that the city centre seems quiet at the moment - though East Street was all virtually closed earlier, and rumors of gangs building up at St Marys Stadium were rife. Many may disagree with me, but whilst there is even a hint that there could be trouble, I believe that the match tonight should be cancelled. Whilst I'm NOT suggesting footie fans are troublemakers, other people who want to cause trouble may use the gathering at a football match to incite rioting and violence.

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jamiegiles says...
5:33pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Any danger of Daily Echo getting a decent server? The site (echo network) is always down if big news hits the city.

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Words Apart says...
5:46pm Tue 9 Aug 11

I don't know. On the one hand you've got idiotic rioting mobs and on the other you've got 'Suicidal Bombers' looking for large groups of people to kill.

All we need to do now is to get them all the same place, at the same time...

Even the Job Centre would see less benefits.

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OSPREYSAINT says...
6:09pm Tue 9 Aug 11

jamiegiles wrote:
Any danger of Daily Echo getting a decent server? The site (echo network) is always down if big news hits the city.
Absolutely it has crashed several times today.

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solomum says...
6:24pm Tue 9 Aug 11

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
How about a poll to see who is in favour of the action and who is against it?
surely no-one of sound mind will be for the action. Violence must not be tolerated anywhere

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solomum says...
6:25pm Tue 9 Aug 11

surely no-one of sound mind will be for the action. Violence must not be tolerated anywhere

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Cookiecutter says...
6:51pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Bloody hell. That was the safest place of all from all the rioters. Now i got to find a new hiding place..

Arre i know hide in a dust bin. No one looking in the garbage.

Opps! No that won't work people are setting fire to them too.

I know. I'll go to work. Yippee safe at last.

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shig2k1 says...
7:14pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Wow! Talk about biting the hand that feeds. I'm guessing they're too thick to realise that it might affect their benefits

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Maybush Lad says...
7:29pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Knowing the scumbag element in this city I am very surprised that they haven't joined in with this rioting yet. Hopefully I haven't spoken too soon.

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Gainer T Gopher says...
7:48pm Tue 9 Aug 11

heard rumours that one of the job centres in Portsmouth has just gone up in flames..... anyone confirm this??

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NatzBatz says...
10:42pm Tue 9 Aug 11

Iv heard rumours dunno if its true but apparently the reason the jobcentre didnt go up in flames is because the numptys used diesel instead!

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Poppy22 says...
2:40pm Wed 10 Aug 11

tootle wrote:
Having recently assisted somebody with a problem claiming I find trying to burn the place down quite understandable. To date there are no records of the 2 "official" complaints I made. Patience is a virtue, the system is workable.
Yes, they hand out benefits (and large cheques for hundreds or thousands of pounds to "settle" sciving people in new homes - all provided by the rest of us). Then they refuse to give JSA to people who've worked for years and are entitled to it. EG In 1 case even Job Centre staff couldn't understand why the manager was refusing to pay out the claim, calling someone self employed when they weren't. The person appealed but didn't get anywhere and had to drop the appeal as it was taking up time when they needed to be finding paid work. In another instance a friend was hauled in "under caution" for questioning on a valid claim where a Job Centre staff member had told her how to fill in the form!- she gave up trying to claim as she was too frightened that she might (wrongly) end up prosecuted. A total shambles, but then it is the public sector and the manager was probably targeted for how many claims they managed to refuse so they picked soft options (ie people who'd be too scared or didn't have the money/time to fight their case) .....!

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