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<\/p>\n‘What you did, in the end, was you affected your own little community on that street’<\/p>\n
Paul Solway pleaded guilty to six counts of ‘damaging property being reckless as to whether life was endangered’<\/p>\n
A “selfish” Derby man deliberately caused an explosion which devastated residents<\/a> on an Alvaston street after telling a neighbour he was suffering from \u201ca meltdown\u201d.<\/p>\n Derby Crown Court <\/a>heard how Paul Solway went into his basement in Eden Street, removed a pipe to release gas and then set a chair alight causing a blast which demolished his address and caused brutal damage to a number of neighbouring ones.<\/p>\n Remarkably, it was only Solway who suffered any injury<\/a> in the blast.<\/p>\n Jailing the 58-year-old father for 11 years, Judge Shaun Smith KC said:<\/a> \u201cThe consequences were devastating.<\/p>\n \u201cYou only have to look at the photographs, as I have, to see the true effects of what you did. \u201cThankfully no-one else suffered any physical injuries but there were psychological effects of your selfish and reckless behaviour.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople lost a lot of money, some are now reliant on the council for their accommodation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you did, in the end, was you affected your community – your own little community on that street.<\/p>\n \u201cNot one of them escaped the consequences of what you did that night. Each of them suffered and each of them witnessed how others have suffered.\u201d<\/p>\n Pictured is the demolished house in Eden Street, Alvaston(Image: Derby Telegraph)<\/p>\n Paul Raudnitz KC, prosecuting, said the explosion took place at 7,24pm on June 10, last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIn summary, the case against the defendant is that he had gone into the basement and detached the Anaconda pipe from the service pipe which led to gas being liberated into the property.<\/p>\n \u201cHe then went into the kitchen and set fire to a chair on the kitchen floor which ignited.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the fire and rescue service arrived he (Solway) was coming out of the back of the property; he had a badly burned face and hair and had obviously been very close to the source of the explosion.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told the police it was gas and it was just him and the dog in the property.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had been alone there for sometime. Cadent also later carried out an investigation and showed there was no gas leak which could have caused the explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Raudnitz said around three hours before the blast the defendant\u2019s partner left the address with the three children saying she \u201cwanted him out of the house and would be back tomorrow”.<\/p>\n He said a neighbour later heard loud banging and looked into the garden to see Solway repeatedly punching a fence.<\/p>\n The prosecutor said: \u201cHe told her he was having a meltdown and said he was going to be dead by tonight.<\/p>\n The explosion devastated Eden Street<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the investigation the police found a noose hanging from a beam in a garden outbuilding showing possible suicidal intentions.<\/p>\n![\"Pictured](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3_IMG_0641.jpg\")
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