Rioter admits starting blaze which destroyed 150-year-old House of Reeves furniture shop Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow told the court that he had consulted with members of the Reeves family about accepting the guilty pleas. Thompson had already admitted burglary of two shops in Croydon - Iceland and House of Fraser - on the same evening. Jurors were ordered to find him not guilty of two other charges of violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life. Judge Peter Thornton QC warned that he will face "a long sentence of imprisonment." The 150-year old House of Reeves furniture shop was destroyed in the blaze The court had already heard that Thompson, of Waddon Road, Croydon, "ran riot through the streets" that day. When he saw other rioters smashing the front window of Reeves, he climbed into the shop to steal a laptop, and after he left, decided to burn it down. Mr Glasgow said: "On leaving the store, he asked another of the rioters for a lighter and, as soon as he was given one, went back to the shop and set fire to a sofa inside the shattered window. The ensuing fire razed the building to the ground. Such was the ferocity of the blaze that embers and heat from the flames set fire to property on the other side of the road and numerous residents were forced to flee their homes for their lives. Indeed one young woman became trapped inside her flat and was forced to jump from a first-floor window into the arms of rescuers waiting below. A photographer captured a dramatic image of Monika Konczyk as she hurled herself from the building to escape the fire. Thompson will be sentenced on April 11.