TWO men have been found guilty of arson after six cars were damaged in Weymouth.

Damien Coltart, 21, and Thomas Hircock, 18, were found guilty of the charges at Dorchester Crown Court after a four-day trial after they deliberately torched cars.

The pair were jointly charged with four offences of arson, and Coltart, of Carlton Road North, Weymouth, faced a further two charges.

It took the jury of seven men and five women more than five-and-a-half hours to reach their majority verdicts, and Carlton and Hircock, of Lenthay Road, Sherborne, have been released on bail until January 29 next year when they will be sentenced.

Previously in the trial, the jury heard how on Saturday, January 31 one car in the Asda car park on Marsh Road was damaged by fire, and a group of young people was captured on CCTV in the area.

The following night, three cars were set alight on the Prince of Wales Road and Old Castle Road in Weymouth, destroying a total of five vehicles.

Following the vandalism, Dorset Police released CCTV images of the group of youths caught on camera in Asda, to try and track down the group.

One of the girls who was captured in the images appeared in court as a witness and told the jury that Coltart had been lying by a car, flicking his lighter on and off when he asked if he should set the car alight.

She said the pair told the rest of the group to wait around the corner and spoke of hearing the “flicking of a lighter” before seeing flames coming from another vehicle.

Coltart and Hircock had denied both charges and in his evidence to the jury, Coltart claimed it was not him that set fire to the car in Asda car park, and that he said he did not see the other cars set on fire the following evening but believed it was someone else.

When asked about the girl’s claims that it was in fact him who was involved in the arson offences, Coltart replied: “What she says is lies.”

Hircock chose not to give evidence before the jury.

After the pair were both found guilty, Judge Fuller released the pair on bail until the end of January to allow for Psychiatric reports will be done on both of the defendants before sentencing to be completed.