Revengeful father gets three years for arson

A father-of-three who set fire to a house in Wednesfield, causing an explosion so forceful a television was flung outside, has been jailed for more than three years.

Alan Manley set fire to the empty house of his estranged wife and three daughters while they were away on holiday, causing more than £70,000 of damage.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Manley doused the terraced house with petrol before setting it ablaze, which resulted in a powerful explosion and caused his own trousers to set alight.

Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, told the court that in the months before the blaze, 41-year-old Manley had split from his wife and that she remained at the house with their children.

The arson at the home in Vicarage Road was "re-venge" because Manley had considered it to be his "retirement settlement" and wanted it himself.

Mr Searle told the court the blaze happened at about 6pm on August 23. He added: "What appears to have happened is that on that date he began drinking vodka and was upset over a £1,600 tax bill he had received."

The prosecutor said Manley, of Valley Road, Park Village, then bought two petrol cans before heading to his former home. The court heard he knew his wife and three daughters were not there at the time.

Mr Searle said that after setting the house alight, Manley's trousers caught fire and that a neighbour had to damp him down.

More than £74,000 of damage was caused to the house and the property next door, the court heard.

Manley had earlier admitted arson with reckless endangerment.

Mr Jon Roe, defending, said Manley was "immediately remorseful" for starting the fire.

"The seriousness of the events in his life over the course of the last year caused him to act out of character," said Mr Roe.

Judge Martin Walsh des-cribed the arson as an "act of vengeance" and jailed Manley for three years and four months.