Lewis Hiles was arrested after a fire on Brighton seafront spread to a beach hut containing a quad bike.
The hut belonged to Brighton Beach Patrol, a charity which scours the seafront each night with a quad bike looking out for vulnerable beachgoers.
Hiles, of Coombe Road, Brighton, was to be sentenced yesterday afternoon in Brighton Magistrates’ Court after indicating a guilty plea to arson and criminal damage over the incident on December 1, 2022.
Firefighters at the scene on the night of the fire (Image: Louise Roberts / Brighton Beach Patrol)
But the 24-year-old was not represented by a lawyer, something bench chairman Nigel Peacock said he was “uncomfortable” about.
Hiles’s father, sitting in the public gallery, addressed the court saying: “Lewis has suffered severe mental health problems since his mother died in 2016. He has suffered at the hands of a system which is broken.
“He did not intend this. He intended to have a fire on the beach because he had just been released from police custody. The fire spread, it was not intended.”
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Hiles said: “I did not intent to set the beach hut on fire, it was December and it was cold.”
Hiles believed he could not be represented as he already received legal aid at a previous hearing.
Lawyer Adam James, who was sitting in court for a different matter, said he would give legal advice to Hiles.
His sentencing was adjourned until February 14 at the same court .
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