Shropshire Star

Jailed: Oswestry man, 25, set ex-partner's car ablaze in jealous rage

An Oswestry man has been jailed for two years after setting his former partner's car alight in a jealous rage.

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A court heard how the fire, started by Daniel Mark Williamson, 25, of Woodland View, Treflach, nearly spread to a nearby property.

Catastrophe was only averted when a neighbour spotted the flames and raised the alarm.

Mold Crown Court was told firefighters put out the blaze, but had they not been called the fire could have destroyed the woman's bungalow at Meifod.

Williamson admitted a charge of "arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered".

The court heard that the victim had since visited Williamson in prison and in a statement said she believes he needs help.

John Philpotts prosecuting said the fire at Ger y Llan, Meifod, on Tuesday, March 14, destroyed a Ford Kia.

It was parked a metre or so away from the rented bungalow and flames shot up to the facia boards on the gable end with the door melting in the heat.

Two fire engines arrived and a report made it plain that if the alarm had not been raised so promptly then the bungalow could have been engulfed.

The court was told that on the night the victim had gone out with another former partner.

She had left her mobile phone in his car and later realised she had received calls and texts from Williamson, one of a threatening nature.

At about 8pm a neighbour saw the car well alight.

The court was told that the defendant had been in his works van, which had been fitted with a tracker that placed the vehicle at the scene at the time.

Judge Rhys Rowlands was told Williamson admitted what he had done to his employer.

After being arrested, he made full admissions and said that he had "lost his head."

Williamson said that he felt his former girlfriend and her ex-partner had "got one over on him".

In a victim impact statement Williamson's former partner said that she was in utter shock and disbelief.

She could not bear to think what might have happened if the neighbour had not raised the alarm.

But she said that she genuinely felt that the defendant needed help with his mental health and other issues from his childhood.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said the fire was a deliberate act and there had been a risk of an explosion from the vehicle.

He added that it was "a quite deliberate act", taking revenge – an extreme and extremely dangerous reaction to the fact that she had gone out with someone else.

Sentencing Judge Rowlands warned that Williamson would have received a three year sentence but for his guilty plea.

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