Very low levels of arson convictions in Cornwall have been revealed in a response to a freedom of information request obtained by info4fire.
Between 2009-11 out of 684 recorded arson offences in Cornwall there were just 61 convictions, according to Devon & Cornwall Police figures.
67 offenders were charged in this period, however, showing a relatively high conviction rate.
These figures have been defended by police inspector Mark Bolt, speaking to the BBC who originally made the FoI request.
He explained that many crimes were minor and that some people had been convicted for several attacks.
He said: "Arson is criminal damage with fire, so it’s any damage that gets reported where there is a fire element, so it will include cigarette burns and electrical fires that we don’t know the cause of.
"There are very, very few serious reports of arson and the figures are full of these little minor incidents which are incredibly difficult to detect."
In England deliberate fires accounted for just over half of all fires according to the official fire statistics monitor covering the period of April 2011 – March 2012, down 60% in a decade.
Deliberate fires are defined as any fire ‘where deliberate ignition is merely suspected.’
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