London rioter jailed over furniture shop arson A photograph of a young woman leaping from the window of one of those properties to safety into the arms of rescuers below became one of the most iconic images of last summer's London riots. Monika Konczyk, 32, who featured in the photograph, had been due to give live evidence as part of the case, having filmed Thompson outside the furniture store just minutes before she was forced to leap to safety. But Thompson, who had denied arson, changed his plea to admit two of the four charges he faced partway through his trial in February. He had initially claimed he was trying to stop other rioters looting the store when it went up in flames. Sentencing, Judge Peter Thornton QC said: "The fire was devastating, as you must have realised to some extent that it would be. But the real cost was in human and emotional terms. The Reeves family lost their historic business, something they and generations before them had lived and worked for all their lives. The loss was priceless, the trauma they have suffered inestimable. It was extreme good fortune - and no thanks to you - that nobody died or was seriously injured. But they will be scarred emotionally for a long time. Thompson started the fire on August 8 just minutes after he had looted other neighbouring stores and boasted to one witness later the same evening: "It was me - I did that. I burned Reeves Furniture. The father-of-two's actions destroyed one of Croydon's oldest stores and put those fighting the fire in "real danger," said prosecutor Oliver Glasgow. "He watched others start to smash the glass in order to force their way in through the doors and windows of the furniture shop," he said. As soon as the glass was broken he ripped the glass from its housing and he was one of the first to enter the premises. He stole a laptop and on leaving the store he asked another of the rioters for a lighter. As soon as he was given one he went back to the shop and set fire to a sofa inside the store 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. The damage to the store is estimated to have cost the Reeves family more than £1m, while a further £330,000 had to be spent repairing nearby tramlines, which melted in the intense heat of the blaze. Shortly before he targeted the Reeves Corner store, Thompson had also been part of a mob that targeted Iceland in nearby Surrey Street and the House of Fraser store in the Centrale Shopping Centre, causing £105,000-worth of damage. The painter and decorator was caught on camera clutching bottles he had stolen from the supermarket and helped others prise open the security shutters at the department store, enabling would-be looters to make their way inside. Mr Glasgow said: '"Once out of sight of the cameras he, like the others who had broken in, ran amok and left with armfuls of goods he had stolen for himself. After leaving the store he stood at the top of the stairs pointing out the direction of the broken entrance and encouraging others to loot the store. Bus drivers later saw Thompson tipping petrol into the street and trying to set it on fire. After his raids on the supermarket and the department store, which he had already admitted prior to his trial, Thompson headed with other members of the mob towards Reeves Corner, where he torched the furniture store in an act of "cynical cowardice." In the minutes before the blaze was started, witnesses overheard him asking "Who's got a lighter?" and yelling: "Let's torch the place." Mr Glasgow said: "Quite what it was that first attracted looters to these premises may remain a mystery since, unlike House of Fraser, which was plundered of clothing and jewellery, few of the rioters could have wanted to steal a sofa. It seems the attention this shop received started when one of the mob threw a piece of debris at one of the glass windows. Thereafter others, including this defendant, joined in until the window was smashed, torn from its housing, and the rioters managed to get inside. Thompson was one of the first to enter the shop and emerged carrying a laptop, causing the crowd to surge forward in search of other valuabe goods. That, however, was not an end to the matter. Having vandalised and looted the store, the defendant was still not satisfied," said Mr Glasgow. In an act of cynical cowardice he went back inside the shop and set fire to one of the sofas inside the window. The effect, as anyone would realise and as he plainly intended, was catastrophic. The sofa went up in flames, as did other pieces of furniture in the showroom and within minutes the inferno was raging out of control. The defendant stayed at the scene to watch what he had done before the heat and flames drove he and others away. The "devastating" heat of the blaze set fire to neighbouring properties and even the tramlines in the street caught fire. Firefighters were powerless to act and all that remained of the store were the supporting walls and a pile of smoldering rubble. "House of Reeves simply ceased to exist," added Mr Glasgow. Trevor Reeves was in the crowd as his store burned, but was unable to identify any of the rioters he saw, the court was told. Another witness, Jonathan Davis, who lives nearby, saw Thompson jogging towards him and boasting: "It was me, I did that, I burned Reeves Corner." Thompson was arrested after his picture appeared in a local newspaper and he was recognised by a reader. He claimed he had seen the same edition and was planning to turn himself in. Thompson, of Waddon Road, Croydon, admitted burglary and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. Formal not guilty verdicts were recorded in respect of an alternative charge of arson with intent to endanger life and a further count of violent disorder after the prosecution offered no evidence. House of Reeves was founded in Croydon in 1867 and had survived two world wars. The street on which it stood was named after the family business.