Bank Street arsonist receives 11 years in prison

An Ottawa man pleaded guilty Thursday to setting two fires on Bank Street that resulted in more than $7 million in damage.

Robert Patrick Gill, 31, was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he admitted to setting  the  fires on Sept. 15. and Oct. 1 at the commercial building which houses the Defence Contract Management Agency Americas office and the High Commission of Bangladesh, at 275 Bank St., near the corner of Somerset Street.

"I just want to stress it was nothing personal," Gill told Ontario Court Justice Ann Alder. "I didn't do it to any company or any individual for any reason," he said.

Alder said the fires showed a "total disregard for the property and safety of so many in our community," and that it was impossible to put a monetary value on the fear that Gill had caused.