Kangasala man given suspended sentence after setting pram and bicycle alight in basement
A Kangasala man was given a one-year, two-month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 60 hours of community service after admitting to several arsons, including a basement pram and bicycle fire that forced people to flee a sauna, YLE reports.
Pirkanmaa district court sentenced a 36-year-old Kangasala man to a one-year, two-month suspended prison term and 60 hours of community service after a series of fires in spring and summer 2026, YLE reports.
He admitted to starting several blazes, prosecutors said. Among the incidents in June 2026 was a fire in a residential building basement in which a pram and a bicycle were set alight. Heavy smoke filled the basement corridor and forced four people to escape a sauna through the smoky passage. No one was injured, and firefighters brought the blaze under control. After the rescue crew left, he returned and set a bicycle basket on fire; another resident removed and extinguished it. Earlier that spring he burned a wooden bicycle shelter and briefly set paper alight in his apartment mailbox before putting it out himself. The court ordered the defendant to pay roughly €2,000 in compensation. The ruling can be appealed.
The case is the latest in a string of arson convictions in the Pirkanmaa region, including a Tampere woman convicted of two apartment fires in Lielahti and a Tampere woman jailed for a Tammela apartment arson.
Earlier coverage
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