An arsonist who poured petrol through a letterbox and set light to a house while a woman and her child were inside has been jailed for eight years. Brandon Jones, 24, had previously sent the woman threatening texts before going to her home in Gravesend, Kent, on March 31 last year.
When she refused to let him inside he left in a taxi, picked up his e-scooter and rode to a service station to fill a can with petrol. He then returned to the woman's house and poured the petrol through the letterbox before starting a fire which spread from the door through the hallway.
He fled on his e-scooter while neighbours raised the alarm and warned the family inside, who had to be rescued from the first floor window by Kent Fire and Rescue. Jones admitted lighting the fire when he phoned the victim's phone and someone else answered it. He was arrested the same day.
Before the blaze he said he was going to harm the woman in a text to one of her friends. Jones, of Gravesend, pleaded guilty to arson intending to endanger the life of another person at Woolwich Crown Court. He was sentenced to eight years in prison with a further four years to be served on licence.
Kent Police Sergeant John-Paul Foley said: “This criminal has shown a callous disregard for the life of others by setting fire to the main exit from the victim’s property.
“His cowardly actions could have had a fatal outcome, if not for the prompt actions of the attending fire crews. Jones is undoubtedly a dangerous individual who is now, quite rightly, starting a lengthy prison sentence.”
