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"Am I going down?"

Some may remember a tale I told about a barn.

This barn, after a bit of idiocy from my close friend neal. Got burnt to the ground. In brief, my friend was working in a barn. Stacking a selection of broken chip and pin machines. It was a cold day in January and so he decided to start a fire to keep warm. Using my lighter my friend recklessly started a fire on a stack of boxes and then later, upon request, in a bin, away from danger. As the situation wore on my friend moved the bin nearer to him, which I questioned, the fire flicked from the metal bin and hit a stack of boxes. To cut a long story short, the barn burnt to the ground.

1 month later he is arrested, he tells his arresting officer that it was I that started the fire. So I was arrested. I told the truth, as stated above. 4 months down the line we are both charged with Arson.

I appear in court next week.

I am, as some will known, a Cambridge university student, with a small desire to be a teacher. This offense could see my dreams dashed and my prospects ruined. I have no idea what the minimum sentence is (be it imprisonment or community service), nor do I know EXACTLY what I did wrong.

At the moment my "close friend" still insists it was I that was responsible for the fire.

Help???

A responsible adult (because that is what you are, despite the incident) would have called a fire engine, stayed on the scene, and at least tried to maintain some dignity amongst the smouldering stupidity.

Now try maintaining your dignity bent double in a prison shower.

I think putting the blame entirely on your friend might look bad on you in the long run. At the end of the day, you might not have started the fire, but you were still there and in the company of the person who did.

Just make it clear that your friend never at any point intended to burn the barn down. It was just an accident, a rather retarded accident, but an accident all the same.

It's hard really to say what the court will end up doing, it's a first time offence, but it's also 100k of damage. AT the time did you run away or call the fire brigade and stay on the scene?

Why did you go in there in the first place? Seems like a really stupid idea.

Poor Dringo

"A good friend bails you out of jail, whilst a true friend is sitting next to you, saying "That was fun!".

Maybe he's a true friend.

Dringo wrote:
> Starting a contained fire in a farm is not a reckless idea,
> especially if it is set away from anything flammable. Neal twice
> risked the fire catching the other boxes and twice I repelled the
> idea.

Yeah, but it isn't in a farm is it? It's in a barn,. Fill of flammable materials. Simple thing really is, that you had no right to start it in the first place, it's caused craploads of damage, and the fact you are saying you had nothing to do with it really isn't going to cut it where people are looking at two kids who've started a fire.

Dringo wrote:
> It was never a laugh, it was terrifying. I didn't expect my friend to
> get in trouble with the police as it was an accident. I certainly
> didn't imagine him telling them it was me.

*shrug* Not the way I read it the first time. You mention later it was away from anything flammable. Weren't you sliding down a pile of something like hay or polysterene chips? I'm sure it was something like that.

Don't sweat about it, Dring. In the worst case scenario, you'll still be out in time for the Nintendo Revolution's launch.

mikelar wrote:
> I'd stab everyone in the back for sweet freedom, "neal"
> style.

For me it might have been this. Although it's very early in the day.

Goatboy wrote:

> Or, if the magistrate has had a bad day and recently lost his family
> in a barn-fire, you'll be thrown into prison with a large man called
> Mary, who will open you up like a christmas present.

Thats the funniest thing I read all day.

hahaha :D