Drunken pub-goer was so angry at being booted out for being rude he came back with a homemade Molotov cocktail and bombed the place

A drunken pub-goer threw a homemade Molotov cocktail at a pub in a failed attempt to bomb the place after he was kicked out for being rude to staff and punters. 

Ben Bradwell was kicked out of the Village Home in the village of Alverstoke, Gosport, Hampshire, when he started being offensive.

The 27-year-old, who has autism and Asperger’s, was so incensed about being booted out he bombarded the boozer with nuisance phone calls.

He then returned at around midnight with a Molotov cocktail he had made himself to try and burn the place down. 

However, his plot failed as the hand-thrown bottle with tissue that he set fire to extinguished immediately after it smashed on the steps on the pub. He later said next time he would use petrol.

Ben Bradwell, 27, of Gosport, was kicked out of the Village Home pub in Alverstoke for being rude to staff and customers. He returned with a homemade Molotov cocktail to try and burn the place down

A court heard the incident ‘frightened’ the landlord, staff and customers at the pub.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Bradwell, from Gosport, was kicked out for being rude to people on August 6.

Prosecutor Leigh Hart told of Bradwell’s failed Molotov cocktail plan.

‘He set the tissue alight and smashed it up the steps of the pub and it immediately extinguished,’ Ms Hart said.

‘The defendant tried to light it again before leaving.

Read Related Also: Alas, No Extraterrestrials, NASA Says

‘At 5.30am he told his care worker what he had done and said next time he would use petrol.’

Bradwell was arrested by police and blamed people in the pub for his actions.

Ms Hart added: ‘He said people were being nasty and horrible to him and he ended up doing something he shouldn’t have done and didn’t intend to harm anyone.’

Bradwell appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court where he admitted arson saying he acted on ‘impulse’. He was given an 18-month community order and told to complete 25 rehabilitation days, a six-month alcohol treatment course, and a two-year restraining order

The pub landlord Andrew Roberts, in a statement read to the court, said: ‘The actions have caused a significant impact on our lives.

‘We never know if he is going to return for another go.

‘He clearly has something against me or the pub and I don’t think we can move on with our lives until this is concluded.’

Bradwell admitted arson, saying he acted on ‘impulse’.

Daniel Reilly, defending, said the defendant was diagnosed as having autism and Asperger’s and is a resident at a special unit due to his ‘mental health impairment’.

He added: ‘These proceedings have weighed heavily on him and he says it has been a “living hell” and he’s been struggling to cope.’

Judge William Ashworth said the offending responsibility was ‘substantially reduced by mental difficulties’ before adding to Bradwell: ‘Your behaviour was so serious it was a crime and frightened people.’

Bradwell was given an 18-month community order, told to complete 25 rehabilitation days, a six-month alcohol treatment course, and was handed a two-year restraining order.