A young worker at a tourist attraction sought attention and praise by reporting a series of fires which he had started, a jury heard.

One of the fires, discovered in the roof of a workshop used by the Eskdale and Ravenglass Railway in March 2013, caused £500,000 of damage and was so serious that it almost destroyed the business.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Benjamin Taylor, 23, of Whole House Road, Seascale, has gone on trial accused of six arson offences.

He denies them all. 

Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone outlined how the fires broke out in 2012 and 2013 – two at a property in Lakeland Avenue, Whitehaven, where the defendant was living, three at the railway and one at Whitehaven Lifeboat Station.

The first two fires happened at Lakeland Avenue, in November 2012, where Taylor lived with his girlfriend and her parents.

One fire was in the kitchen at night and the other in the garage.

Both times, Taylor raised the alarm.

Miss Whittlestone then described the fires at the Eskdale and Ravenglass Railway, where the defendant worked as “part of the team”.

The first, discovered in the paint store on December 4, 2012, caused £50,000 of damage.

There was a second fire on December 31 in the canteen, which was was put out with a fire-extinguisher.

The third and most serious fire was on March 28, 2013. “This fire was significantly larger and caused significant damage,” said Miss Whittlestone. “It was the third fire in as many months and it almost destroyed the business.”

The cause was not determined because the damage was so extensive. 

The barrister said: “The young man who discovered those three fires, on those three occasions, was Benjamin Taylor.

It was also Taylor who raised the alarm after the Lakeland Avenue fires, said Miss Whittlestone, and the defendant who, while a volunteer at the Whitehaven Lifeboat Station, reported a fire in a vehicle there.

The prosecutor said: “In all the fires he is present, he’s the one who raises the alarm, deals with the emergency services; he is the one who receives the praise and the attention for his discovery; for saving the day.”

Miss Whittlestone said the jury had to consider whether the defendant had displayed “attention-seeking” behaviour.

She outlined other events which the prosecution say happened when Taylor lived at Lakeland Avenue.

“The family dogs would go missing when they were left with this defendant,” she said.

“He would raise the alarm, a search would begin and they were found in bizarre places, such as a cupboard drawer and on two occasions on the garage roof.”

In his police interviews, said the barrister, Taylor admitted “faking” burglaries and thefts at the railway that he reported when he worked there, saying that he did so because he wanted to be seen in a good light.

Miss Whittlestone told the jury: “It’s going to be a matter for you as to whether it was just left at burglary and theft, or whether it was extended, as the prosecution say, to offences of arson.”

The trial continues.