Deaf Arsonist Set Fire To Deaf Family's Home

VIDEO: Caught on camera: The shocking moment a drug-fuelled arsonist poured a gallon of petrol on to the house of a Deaf family sleeping inside before setting it on fire.



LONDON - A drug-fuelled arsonist has been sentenced to jail after he was caught red-handed on camera trying to set the home of a Deaf family on fire while they were sleeping inside.



Michael Douglas was paid £1,600 to target the victims by pouring petrol onto their house and then setting it alight in the early hours of the early morning.



The family's CCTV cameras caught Douglas, who is profoundly Deaf himself, and an unknown accomplice running up to the house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, emptying a gallon of fuel and setting it alight before making their escape.

The shocking moment a drug-fuelled arsonist poured a gallon of petrol on to the house of a Deaf family sleeping inside before setting it on fire.



Bradford Crown Court heard that the arsonist was drunk and high on cocaine and cannabis when he carried out the attack at 5am on May 26.



He has been jailed for five years and three months after pleading guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered as well as a variety of motoring offences.



Douglas told police he had been paid £1,600 to 'light the house' but had refused to kidnap the mother who lived there because the whole family was Deaf, the Telegraph & Argus reported.



After the 26-year-old father of four and his accomplice fled the scene, a neighbour called 999 and the victims were unharmed, although the ground floor of their house, their garage and the wheelie bins were damaged... Read more: HERE

Deaf Man Jailed Without Interpreter, Wins Case

Deaf News: Deaf man jailed without sign language translator wins case against District of Columbia jail.



WASHINGTON - A Deaf man who was jailed for 51 days without a sign language translator - left unable to communicate with prison doctors, his counselor, his teachers and other inmates - has won a discrimination case against the District of Columbia.



William Pierce is profoundly Deaf and communicates with sign language. After he pleaded guilty to a simple assault charge stemming from a domestic dispute, he was sentenced to the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America.



The jail assumed that "lip-reading and exchanging written notes would suffice," and did not provide a translator, the court found.



"They figuratively shrugged and effectively sat on their hands," the court's decision read. Pierce felt isolated and confused by what was happening in jail, he said in court filings.



The court found that the District and CCA had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.



“I am very pleased with Judge Jackson’s decision to find that the District of Columbia violated my rights as a Deaf man and a human being,” Pierce said, through an interpreter, in an American Civil Liberties Union press release.



“Video phones and interpreters are critical for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing inmates to have access to the same opportunities as other inmates," Pierce said. "Unfortunately, even with this decision, the denial of service and adequate access continues... Read more: http://nbcwashington.com/news/local/Deaf-Man-Jailed-Without-Sign-Language-Translator-Wins-Case-Against-DC-Jail.html