UK Firefighter Sentenced for Burning Own Car at Station

A firefighter in the UK has been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to burn his own vehicle while he was on duty at the fire station.

Anthony Murray, 41, pled guilty to conspiring with Gareth Collier to burn his L47,000 BMW Alpina last year while it sat behind the Skelmersdale fire station in West Lancashire. Murray sought to recoup the insurance proceeds. Collier also arranged for Murray to be on a run when the fire was set… just in case.

The judge in the case, Stephen Everett, told Murray at his sentencing: “You gave yourself what you must have thought was the perfect alibi because you were nowhere near the car when it was set on fire.”

Here’s more on the story.

While we are in the UK, here is the settlement of a sex discrimination case by a female firefighter whose lack of strength led to the injury of a colleague as they were trying to lift a ladder. She claims the East Sussex Fire Authority failed to adapted its equipment to help her carry out her job. As a result she suffered embarrassment and humiliation. She also claims the other firefighters don’t want to work with her.

The terms of the settlement are confidential.

And yes I am intentionally avoiding the FDNY social security fraud scandal!!! Thanks to President Reagan and the Social Security Reform Act of 1983, most firefighters (myself included)  are not even eligible for the social security benefits everyone else gets NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE HAVE CONTRIBUTED – AND ARE FORCED TO CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUE INTO IT – and now these FDNY and NYPD scammers are likely to prompt a whole new round of cutbacks and feel-good bureaucratic scrutiny. Its just not fair. I'll probably get 5% of what someone who contributed less than me gets… kind of like my pension.