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| Care home worker Karen Pedley given 14 life sentences | Care home worker Karen Pedley given 14 life sentences |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A "fire-obsessed" care home worker who killed a 96-year-old resident by setting fire to her room has been given 14 life sentences. | A "fire-obsessed" care home worker who killed a 96-year-old resident by setting fire to her room has been given 14 life sentences. |
| Karen Pedley, 43, from Carharrack, Cornwall, was found guilty of murder and 12 counts of arson at Truro Crown Court on Thursday. | Karen Pedley, 43, from Carharrack, Cornwall, was found guilty of murder and 12 counts of arson at Truro Crown Court on Thursday. |
| The court had heard Pedley became "fascinated with fire" after saving her family from a burning house aged 10. | The court had heard Pedley became "fascinated with fire" after saving her family from a burning house aged 10. |
| She will have to spend a minimum of 27 years in prison. | She will have to spend a minimum of 27 years in prison. |
| More on this and other Devon and Cornwall news | More on this and other Devon and Cornwall news |
| Gladys Rowe died in hospital from the effects of smoke inhalation following the fire in Rosewyn House, Truro, in 2008. | Gladys Rowe died in hospital from the effects of smoke inhalation following the fire in Rosewyn House, Truro, in 2008. |
| 'Fascination with fire' | |
| Serial arsonist Pedley was convicted of starting a series of fires between 2002 and 2010, including the one which killed Mrs Rowe. | |
| Sentencing, Mr Justice Teare said: "It was totally remarkable that she continued to commit arson even after Gladys had lost her life". | |
| The court heard at the age of 10 Pedley was living in Bedfordshire with her family when she woke them in the night and saved them from a fire that gutted the house. | |
| Prosecutor Nigel Lickley said she was rewarded for her actions with a trip on Concorde and he believed the incident in 1983 had caused her to develop a "fascination with fire". | |
| He said police found a file of newspaper cuttings recalling the fire and the trip when they searched her home. | |
| 'Dangerous lady' | |
| "The public needs protection, which imprisonment for life can give," he added. | |
| Pedley was found not guilty of attempted murder, but admitted one further charge of arson, after she set fire to her prison cell. | |
| Speaking after the sentencing, Det Insp Ben Beckerleg said Pedley was a "dangerous lady, someone that has repeatedly put people in the local community at risk". | Speaking after the sentencing, Det Insp Ben Beckerleg said Pedley was a "dangerous lady, someone that has repeatedly put people in the local community at risk". |
| The court heard a psychiatric report showed Pedley was of "low intelligence and has a personality disorder". | The court heard a psychiatric report showed Pedley was of "low intelligence and has a personality disorder". |