Why you shouldn't blow up the pokies - You go to jail

I missed this article in The Age on November 30.

Blow up the pokies gambler jailed
A gambler who started a $A16.8 million blaze at a British motorway service station after he lost $A480 on a slot machine has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Jason New, 31, showed no emotion as his sentence was read out at a Manchester court.

New, of Blackpool, used an 85 pence ($A2) lighter to set fire to a pokie machine at a services centre on a motorway near Rochdale in a bid to get his cash back.

The blaze tore through the shopping and restaurant areas and took 74 firefighters almost four hours to control.

At an earlier hearing, the court heard how New went to the station with two friends to play the fruit machines.

He became aggrieved and angry when he lost STG200 ($A480) on one of the machines and started kicking it, saying it owed him money.

New, who has sole care of his four-year-old daughter, bought a lighter from the services shop and set fire to the machine, causing damage that ran into millions.

There are much better ways to do something about gambling.

GG