An arsonist who was jailed after he destroyed popular Bath restaurant Banglo today lost an appeal against his sentence.
Gary Whale, 54, of Monksdale Road, caused more than £400,000 worth of damage when he set fire to the Lower Bristol Road venue last May.
He was recognised in CCTV footage and jailed after admitting arson, reckless as to whether life was endangered, at Bristol Crown Court in December.
Today, he argued that his ten-year sentence – five years custody and another five of extended licence conditions – was too harsh.
But three senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London rejected the arguments, condemning him to finish his sentence.
The court heard Whale set fire to the restaurant at about 3am on May 27 last year and waited until it had taken hold before leaving the scene.
"The damage to the restaurant was very extensive, the estimated cost of repairs was £436,000," said appeal judge, Mr Justice Spencer.
"The premises had to be rebuilt completely."
A psychiatric report on Whale revealed that he had been drinking heavily for 30 years, recently spending £30-a-day on alcohol and another £10 on cocaine and heroin.
His self-abuse had caused him brain damage and a vitamin deficiency which affected his memory. He would wake up with tremors and no memory of the previous night.
Today, his lawyers argued that the sentence was too tough.
They said the fire was not lit in revenge or as part of a grudge and he had not used an accelerant.
However, Mr Justice Spencer, who heard the appeal with Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Coulson, rejected the argument.
"Despite his troubled mental state, we don't think that this reduced his culpability to any substantial degree, not least because it was his continued and voluntary consumption of alcohol which was causing his problems," said the judge.
"Nor is there any suggestion in any of the medical reports that his mental responsibility was impaired by his alcoholism in a way which would justify any significant reduction in sentence.
"He had deliberately targeted these premises and must have been aware of the risk to the building next-door if the fire had caught hold."
The appeal was dismissed.
One of the Banglo directors Robbie Tack, who saw his business destroyed by the fire, has now opened a new restaurant with his brother Jamie, The GPT Smokehouse which is run from the premises next door.
