Suicidal man sets himself on fire - WINOL Week 3

A suicidal man has been sentenced for an arson attack in which he poured petrol over his body and set himself alight.

In January, Lee William Cooper, from Totton, attempted to take his own life by setting himself and his flat on fire.

A commuter walking past saw Cooper run out of Mansergh Walk, in his underwear, blackened with soot and severe burns. Cooper was in a “distressed” state, shouting, “I just torched myself”.

He then ran back inside to alert the other residents to “get out”. No one else was injured except Cooper, who was treated for severe burns that caused him “excruciating pain".

The property owned by the Housing Association had around £60,000 of smoke damage.

Winchester Crown Court heard that Cooper was struggling to cope with the split from his long term partner and that this was not the first time Cooper had attempted suicide.

A psychiatric report concluded that Cooper was not suffering from a mental illness. The Judge described Cooper as an emotionally unstable drug user who was "recklace" as to whether life was endangered.

The 45-year-old was sentenced to 4 years in prison with an extended license period of 3 years.

Getting the story

This week has been a productive week. I have made some contacts and successfully produced a package worthy of the bulletin! I went down to court on Friday 18th October to hear the sentencing of Lee Cooper. Once I had gathered all the necessary notes from sources such as court, crown prosecution service and the police I could start to produce my package. I sent a request form off for a mugshot from Hampshire Constabulary to ensure he was identified correctly and to avoid any risk of libel. In addition, I got in touch with the officer in charge who gave me photographic evidence of the interior and exterior of the property; this was the hardest part out of the way, as I have often struggled to find footage that will make my package visually appealing. I went down to the scene of the crime, in Totton in order to do my piece to camera, to bring to life the location of where it happened. This made it far more interesting then standing infront of the law courts which is often the standard option. I have learnt many new skills on Final Cut Pro X this week, in particular giving a still image movement such as scaling in and focusing on certain aspects in the image. Overall, I felt this was a good week for me, and I have been given plenty of valuable advice and critic which I will learn from, to improve my package. 

If you would like to watch the bulletin in full, visit www.winol.co.uk or watch it below! Thank you.