Two youths of 15 and 18 have been sentenced to juvenile detention for setting fire to an empty office building in Helmond, killing a homeless man who was sleeping there.

The two, aged 14 and 17 at the time, set fire to the building in May last year and watched it burn. When they saw a man hanging out of the window, they ran off and continued watching from a distance.

The fire brigade were able to rescue him but found a second man dead inside.

Sentences

The younger boy was given 200 days in juvenile detention, 128 days suspended and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. The older boy was given a year’s youth detention, six months suspended.

The court ruled that the boys did not mean to kill anyone but that could have realised other people may have been in the building.

Both sentences are lower than had been demanded by the public prosecution department, Nos television said.