Welder whose party ‘prank’ caused pub fire sentenced

A welder who set a pub on fire after taking part in a “monumentally stupid” Christmas party “prank” has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Tony Button, 49, of Owen Close, Kempston, helped another drinker put a real Christmas tree on an open fire inside the Green Man at Clophill, Bedfordshire, in December 2022.

He admitted arson with intent to endanger life and has been given a two-year jail term, suspended for 20 months, at Luton Crown Court.

Judge Ross Johnson told Button, who said he was “ashamed”, that the prank had been “monumentally stupid” and gone “disastrously” wrong.

The judge also ordered Button to complete 250 hours’ unpaid work and to pick up a £1,000 prosecution costs bill.

He told Button, who also works as a security guard: “This is an opportunity to show this was a moment of madness which will not be repeated.”

Barrister David Earl, prosecuting, told the judge that Button and Ian Chalmers had put the tree on the Grade II listed pub’s fire during a Christmas party on 21 December 2022.

The building had caught fire and a hospital had set up a “major incident” operation.

Judge Johnson heard statements from two people who suffered injuries.

Emergency workers said nine people were assessed at the scene and eight taken to Bedford Hospital.

Firefighters had said half the building was damaged by the fire and the rest was heat and smoke damaged.

Locals say the pub has not reopened.

Chalmers, then 66, from Campton, Bedfordshire, was given a two-year suspended jail sentence by a judge at Luton Crown Court in May 2024.

He had admitted arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.

His sentence was suspended for two years and he was ordered to do 200 hours of community work.

Barrister Ciara McElvogue, who represented Button, told Judge Johnson that her client had been “in drink” and was “deeply ashamed”.

She said Button, who initially pleaded not guilty, had made an “ill-considered” decision to join in the prank and was “deeply ashamed”.

“It certainly was not this defendant’s intention for anyone to be injured,” she told the court.

“The defendant didn’t instigate this.”

She added: “Mr Button is a hard-working family man.”

Miss McElvogue said Button had tried to pull the tree out of the fire and had helped people leave the pub as the blaze took hold.