{"id":4958,"date":"2026-04-03T07:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T07:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/4958\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T07:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T07:22:10","slug":"teens-17-charged-with-arson-after-canterbury-debenhams-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/4958\/","title":{"rendered":"Teens, 17, charged with arson after Canterbury Debenhams fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Two teenagers have been charged with arson after a fire tore through an abandoned Debenhams more than a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>The devastating blaze broke out at about 8.45pm in the former department store in Canterbury on December 2, 2024.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 829 553\" alt=\"The flames could be seen for miles around. Photo UKNIP\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"8GCK1UWWZGDFFYT2NQ7F.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.50\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8GCK1UWWZGDFFYT2NQ7F.jpg\" alt=\"The flames could be seen for miles around. Photo UKNIP\"\/>The flames could be seen for miles around. Photo UKNIP<\/p>\n<p>Police and fire crews were met with flames pouring from the building as plumes of smoke rose high into the night sky.<\/p>\n<p>At its peak, more than 50 firefighters battled the inferno, which engulfed the building overnight.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty people were evacuated from their flats, with one requiring medical treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Pictures taken in the aftermath showed the charred remains of the roof.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 960 638\" alt=\"Debenhams in Canterbury in the aftermath of Monday's fire. Picture: TheDroneMan.net\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"FS6BHXPN715R76KTD3IS.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.50\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FS6BHXPN715R76KTD3IS.jpg\" alt=\"Debenhams in Canterbury in the aftermath of Monday's fire. Picture: TheDroneMan.net\"\/>Debenhams in Canterbury in the aftermath of Monday&#8217;s fire. Picture: TheDroneMan.net<\/p>\n<p>Initial enquiries were completed, and arrests were made over the next four days.<\/p>\n<p>Following an extensive investigation, two 17-year-old boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Folkestone Magistrates\u2019 Court on March 17 charged with arson.<\/p>\n<p>Both were bailed with conditions to appear before the same court on April 14.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 3380 2252\" alt=\"Fire crews outside the former Debenhams in Canterbury High Street. Picture: Lukas J&#xE4;rvinen\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"GO8D6UBVHMNPZXP1W8QY.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.50\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GO8D6UBVHMNPZXP1W8QY.jpg\" alt=\"Fire crews outside the former Debenhams in Canterbury High Street. Picture: Lukas J&#xE4;rvinen\"\/>Fire crews outside the former Debenhams in Canterbury High Street. Picture: Lukas J\u00e4rvinen<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rthmb\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=\" http:=\"\" viewbox=\"0 0 1157 868\" alt=\"Crews remain at the scene of the former Debenhams fire in Canterbury\" data-root=\"\/_media\/img\/\" data-path=\"YSY81ZDZVSLTK8PXGWW2.jpg\" data-ar=\"1.33\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/YSY81ZDZVSLTK8PXGWW2.jpg\" alt=\"Crews remain at the scene of the former Debenhams fire in Canterbury\"\/>Crews remain at the scene of the former Debenhams fire in Canterbury<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the fire has also<a href=\"https:\/\/premium.kentonline.co.uk\/canterbury\/news\/drone-pictures-show-aftermath-of-devastating-fire-316874\/kentonline.co.uk\/canterbury\/news\/uncertainty-over-25m-development-after-huge-fire-at-former-316788\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> left the fate of a long-awaited development <\/a>of the site uncertain, with original plans for 74 homes and 12 shops in the newly-named Guildhall Quarter seeming unlikely at this stage.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/premium.kentonline.co.uk\/canterbury\/news\/uncertainty-over-25m-development-after-huge-fire-at-former-316788\/kentonline.co.uk\/canterbury\/news\/huge-debenhams-store-redevelopment-gets-the-go-ahead-219690\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Approved in January 2020 when Debenhams was still open<\/a>, it had been hoped the swift repurposing of the iconic city centre building would provide job opportunities and high-quality accommodation.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters lauded it as \u201ca great example of what can be done\u201d with promises of new stores and flats overlooking the historic setting.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, delays largely thanks to water pollution issues at Stodmarsh and the Covid pandemic have seen costs increase and many become cynical over the chances of seeing the plans come to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two teenagers have been charged with arson after a fire tore through an abandoned Debenhams more than a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1083,61,308,309,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-4958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-canterbury","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-fire","11":"tag-kent","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116339575554368990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}