Staffordshire Police have charged a 39-year-old man with arson following deliberately started fires at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and Staffordshire University on the evening of Wednesday 7th June 2017.
The charged man has been named as Thomas Ashcroft, of Musgrave Crescent, Sheffield, and he has been charged with two counts of committing arson with intent to endanger life.
As we reported, fire broke out at the hospital’s main building at around 6pm. Patients had to be temporarily evacuated whilst Staffordshire Fire Service dealt with the fire and resulting smoke.
Earlier in the evening, at around 4.45pm, fire broke out in toilets in the Beacon Building on Staffordshire University’s College Road campus.
Crews from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service extinguished the blazes and investigators ruled that the fires had been started deliberately.
Detective Inspector Phil Bryan, of Staffordshire Police, said he wanted to reassure the community the incidents were not terrorism related.
