Jail for violent thug in pizza house arson

A man who launched a brutal attack on staff at a pizza takeaway in Wolverhampton and then returned to firebomb the restaurant has been jailed for five and a half years.

Police believe 24-year-old Fallah Piru was part of an extortion racket operating in the city, targeting Asian businesses. Officers are working with Interpol to track down a second man involved in the attack.

He is believed to have fled the country after the incident at Fella's takeaway in Rookery Street, Wednesfield.

The drunken pair were being loud and disruptive at the restaurant. Their behaviour, just after midnight on June 10 last year, prompted a member of staff to invite them outside, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

But once on the pavement, the worker was punched in the face and repeatedly hit about the head and body with a wheelbrace. He was then chased across the road to a garage where he and his cousin, who also worked at the takeaway, were beaten.

Piru, of Lea Road, Penn Fields, fled the scene with Siamand Abdulqudir, who has been on the run since failing to answer police bail. The pair got away in a car parked outside the premises.

Minutes later, Piru returned with Abdulqudir. They were spotted on CCTV cameras dousing the front of the building with liquid before setting it alight, said Alison Scott-Jones, prosecuting.

Delivery driver Mohammed Ali, who was inside the restaurant at the time and saw what was happening on the screens, alerted the emergency services.

The security cameras also picked up the pair's car registration number and Piru was later arrested. He pleaded guilty to wounding and arson with intent to recklessly endanger life.

Colin McCarraher, defending, said Piru was of previous good character and thought the shop was empty when setting it ablaze.

Sentencing him, Judge Amjad Nawaz said the arson was "fuelled out of revenge".

Anyone with information about Abdulqudir's whereabouts on 0845 113 5000.