An arsonist has been jailed after putting lives at risk when he threw a petrol bomb into a Nottingham shop.
Officers on patrol in Radford Road, Hyson Green, spotted a fire in the mobile phone shop doorway around 7.40pm on 15 December last year.
Three men who were inside the shop at the time had to escape through the flames before being taken to hospital.
A joint police and fire investigation took place and detectives identified Rani Bro as a suspect when they analysed CCTV footage.
Bro was captured on footage placing an item behind a sign outside the shop, walking a short distance away and then returning to it.
Witnesses described how Bro then walked into the shop holding a bottle with a flame coming from the top and hurled it at a glass cabinet.
The 36-year-old fled the scene after the cabinet burst into flames.
The three men inside the shop could not escape through the rear of the store so had to battle their way through the flames at the front.
Further inquiries revealed that minutes earlier Bro had filled a container with petrol at a nearby filling station.
Bro, of Whitemoor Road, Nottingham, went on to plead guilty to arson with intent to endanger life.
At Nottingham Crown Court on Monday (15 June) he was jailed for three years.
Detective Constable Rebecca Walker, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“This was an incredibly reckless arson attack which put the lives of three men inside the shop at serious risk.
“The store adjoins other shops and homes in a terrace so other people were also endangered by Bro’s actions.
“Police officers who spotted the fire showed great alertness while on patrol and a rapid response by the emergency services prevented the incident being even more serious.
“Investigations were able to piece together Bro’s movements and led to his guilty plea and this outcome in court.”