Arsonist jailed for Telford house fire
Saturday 22nd May 2010, 11:30AM BST.
A 28-year-old Telford man who poured petrol through the letterbox of a home and lit it as a family slept upstairs has been jailed for three years.
Stephen Vincent Cadden, of Bishopdale, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court for sentence yesterday.
He admitted a charge of arson being reckless as to whether life was in danger, by destroying a carpet and door of a home in Chatford, Stirchley on September 6, 2009, belonging to Wrekin Housing Trust, when a family was inside.
Mrs Janet Pitt-Lewis, prosecuting, said: “This took place at about 5.30am when Mr and Mrs Carey and their three children were asleep at their home in Chatford.
“Mrs Carey was woken by a banging noise and as she left her bedroom the smoke alarm sounded. The front hall carpet was on fire. She woke the rest of the family and went to the kitchen and managed to extinguish the fire with water and tea towels.”
Mrs Pitt-Lewis said CCTV showed Cadden filling up a petrol can at a nearby petrol station shortly after 5am and he was arrested and later accepted what he did during an interview.
Mr Peter Cooper, for Cadden, said his client and his wife had lost a child and Cadden’s father and was suffering a depressive illness. He added that Cadden was genuinely remorseful.
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