AN arsonist was paid by drug dealers to burn down an £80,000 mobile police station.

Jobless Dwayne Francis set fire to the vehicle in York Road, Southend, on October 30 last year, just days after a double stabbing in the street.

The 46-year-old, of Heygate Avenue, Southend, was jailed for three years at Basildon Crown Court after he was caught on CCTV setting light to a bin bag before placing it under the passenger side wheel arch.

Karl Volz, prosecuting, said: “The mobile police station was parked in York Road in an effort to provide reassurance to the public in what had become a troubled area. On this particular date at about 12.30am it was set alight by this defendant and destroyed.”

The court heard Francis has one previous conviction for possession of a petrol bomb in Northern Ireland during the 1980s and a string of convictions for violence, theft, dishonesty and burglary.

Nicholas Jones, mitigating, said Francis was raised in a violent Army family and was taken into care aged nine.

He said: “It’s quite clear that he is somebody who has suffered a disrupted life.”

Francis had previously denied arson and was due to stand trial at Basildon Crown Court last month. He changed his plea to guilty after viewing CCTV footage of the incident.

Footage shows a shadowy figure emerging from a property near the police station, lighting a bin bag and then calmly walking down the street as the vehicle burns. Although Francis cannot be identified, the figure is followed by the distinctive shape of Charlie Boy, his Staffordshire bull terrier.

Shortly before his arrest Charlie Boy was knifed to death and Curtis was stabbed in the buttocks during a town centre attack. The court heard the attack has had a lasting psychological effect.

Judge David Owen-Jones said psychologists found there was a “profit motive” because criminals wanted the station removed. He said: “You are saying that if you did it you would be paid. You now have to suffer the consequences.”

Speaking after the hearing, DetChief Inspector Neil Pudney said: “The mobile police station had been put in place to help provide reassurance to the public after a number of incidents in the area which had caused concern.

“Dwayne Curtis’ actions were completely unnecessary and his wanton destruction of an important piece of equipment could’ve actually harmed the community in which he lives.

“While no-one was injured in the fire, it could have had really serious consequences and could’ve posed a real risk to safety of the public – many of whom would have called Curtis a neighbour.

“I hope Curtis will now reflect on his actions and the impact they had.”