Man jailed for burning down Telford home
Tuesday 25th May 2010, 7:59PM BST.
A 34-year-old man who set fire to his Telford home and watched it burn has been jailed for more than two years.
Paul Cotton appeared in Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday after he admitted arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered on January 22 this year.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Mrs Joanne Barker, prosecuting, said the incident took place after Cotton had a row with his partner and she had left their home in Charlton Street, Oakengates, with their children.
She said: “She left at about 4pm and the defendant was on his third bottle of wine. He sent text messages to her, including one that said ‘say goodbye to your clothes’.”
The court heard that shortly before 6.30pm a neighbour saw smoke coming from the house and saw Cotton on his knees in the garden looking at the fire. The neighbour called the fire brigade.
Mrs Barker said: “The defendant initially told them there was no-one in the house but then said his wife and children were upstairs. Although this was untrue, this led to the deployment of fire officers into the property exposing them to unnecessary risk.”
The court was told a fire report later concluded the cause of the blaze, was a lit cigarette dropped onto flammable material or a naked flame being introduced to flammable material.
The blaze at the home caused nearly £5,000 of damage,
Mr Simon Rogers, for Cotton, said he is addressing an underlying problem with alcohol.
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