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A disabled man has been held under the Mental Health Act after setting himself on fire.
The 53-year-old amputee was sitting in his wheelchair outside the Co-op in London Road, Teynham, when he carried out the desperate act.
Three fire engines, two police cars and ambulances raced to the scene after the store’s deputy manager Mandy Pengelly dialled 999 at around 7pm yesterday.
Both she and her colleague Louise Ansell rushed to his aid after a member of the public phoned the shop and raised the alarm.
The 52-year-old Iwade resident said: “I got a call from a lady who knows him, saying she was worried about him as he was very near the edge of the road and that when she walked past he was very vacant.
“I went outside and I could see he had a bottle of gas lighter liquid in his hand. I know him because he comes into the shop.
“As I walked over to him I said ‘What are you doing? Give it to me’, but he wouldn’t let it go.
"I went back into the shop to call the police and asked my colleague Louise [Ansell] to go outside and keep an eye on him.
"She then ran back in saying he’d set himself on fire.
“We chucked a bucket of water over him.
“He just said ‘I don’t want to be here anymore’. He then set himself alight again so we got another bucket of water and threw it over him.
“Louise managed to wrestle the lighter off of him. He was just so vacant, no reaction, no tears no crying, nothing.
“He set fire to the bandage on his right leg. He’s clearly crying out for help. He’s such a gentleman and always seems happy when he comes in, but obviously it was all a facade.
“I suppose you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.”
The shop was closed at 8.30pm following the incident but re-opened earlier today, with both women returning to work.
Mrs Pengelly, who has been at the shop for six years, added: “I’m very shaken up by it. I’ve not slept at all.
“Louise was really upset, she’s only 22 but she’s a strong girl. You don’t expect to see that kind of thing when you come into work.”
The man was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham with burn injuries, the extent of which is not known.
In January the amputee was sentenced to two years and two months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to threatening to destroy property in a manner likely to endanger life.
“I’m very shaken up by it. I’ve not slept at all. Louise was really upset, she’s only 22 but she’s a strong girl. You don’t expect to see that kind of thing when you come into work" - Mandy Pengelly
Maidstone Crown Court heard how he turned the gas on at his bungalow in May last year and threatened to blow himself up after apparently not being able to get help from doctors or the authorities for his problems.
It was explained that he has a personality disorder and sufferers from problems sleeping because he is in huge amounts of pain.
He had one previous conviction from 1992 for a similar matter, where he had been given a two-year conditional discharge.
It is not known why he was released from prison early.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We don’t comment on individuals. Offenders serving a determinate sentence of more than a year are released at the halfway point and serve the rest of their sentence under probation supervision in the community.
“Time spent on remand counts towards their sentence length.”
