A WORCESTER man has been sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of arson.
The jury at Hereford Crown Court heard that on the evening of 1 August 2016 Wayne Martin Brookes, 33, of Hathaway Close, Worcester, broke into a house on Somers’ Road, Worcester, and started a fire.
The house belonged to a woman with whom Brookes had an altercation with earlier in the evening.
The alarm was raised by a neighbour who heard Brookes entering the property and saw smoke.
Brookes had pleaded not guilty to the offence but the jury unanimously found him guilty and he was sentenced on Friday (January 20)
Brookes was also sentenced to six months after pleading guilty to breach of a restraining order. This sentence will run concurrently.
DC Dave Foley from Worcester CID said: “This was a reckless act and it was only by good fortune and the quick thinking of the witness that the outcome of this incident was not more serious.
“The house was semi-detached, and although Brookes may have thought the house he set fire to was empty, he had no way of knowing whether the adjoining property was occupied or not.
“We welcome the sentence handed down to Brookes and are pleased that he won’t be in a position to put other people’s lives at risk for some time.”
