By Steffan Rhys
Former Denbigh mayor John Larsen convicted of causing bomb blasts in town
A former mayor who set off an improvised explosive device with ball-bearings near his home has been warned he faces a long jail term.
John Larsen, 46, a Lib Dem town councillor and ex-mayor of Denbigh, had denied causing explosions.
He'd told a Caernarfon crown court jury: "I made fireworks, not bombs."
But he was convicted of setting off an IED on March 24 near his home with ball-bearings added as shrapnel, three charges of arson in which cars were damaged and possessing an explosive substance.
Larsen accepted experimenting with fuels for firework rockets in his garden.
He told the court he bought some chemicals for magic tricks and others for fireworks. Larsen, a former stonemason who stopped work in 2004 after injuring his back and now gets incapacity benefit and disability living allowance, said his hobbies were photography, fireworks and magic.
Between February and April 18 there were a number of loud bangs and explosions late at night in the Lenten Pool area of Denbigh where Larsen lived.
Judge Merfyn Hughes QC said he may pass sentence this afternoon. But he said: "These are very serious matters and the sentence I will have to pass is going to be a long one inevitably."
The judge told Larsen's counsel, Gordon Hennell: "The explosion was likely to both endanger life and cause serious injury to property."
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/fo...-john-larsen-6236486 
