Jail for jilted thug who set fire to house in Tettenhall
A violent thug, who punched and kicked his former girlfriend before setting fire to her house, has been jailed for six years and four months.
Jason Cumberbatch was warned by a judge that he would be locked up for life if he ever committed a similar crime again.
The 29-year-old was already on licence - having served two-and-a-half years of a nine-year sentence for stabbing another ex-partner - when he attacked Bronwen James at her home in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.
At the city's crown court, Mr Thomas Schofield, prosecuting, said the pair formed a relationship after meeting on the internet, but Cumberbatch soon became demanding and aggressive. Mr Schofield said that violence flared after Miss James decided to end the relationship on March 17.
"He reacted violently to that," said Mr Schofield.
"He hit her in the face, he punched her a number of times and he kicked her in the upper thigh area. She felt the assault lasted for around five minutes. Two of her three children were present at the time."
The court heard how, when Miss James freed herself and left the house to pick her eldest child up from school, Cumberbatch wiped blood from her face and threatened: "I'm in real trouble now. I might as well go out with a bang."
Mr Schofield said Miss James arrived at the school "bruised and bloodied" and staff called the police.
"By the time police arrived at her home, the loft of the premises were well alight and the defendant was sitting in the loft," he said.
Following his arrest, Cumberbatch spat in the police car, damaging the control panel, and officers also found about 20 cannabis plants in the loft. Cumberbatch had 10 previous convictions for a total of 13 offences, many of them involving women he had formed relationships with.
In June 2011, he was sentenced to nine years after stabbing a former girlfriend in the leg.
Judge Philip Parker said: "You are a predator of young women who you befriend, you have a history of attacking women and you have such a sense of your own importance that when they dare to cross you, you resort to violence.
"Make sure you carry out your sentence with a resolve that, on coming out, you will not impose yourself on women in this way in future. Otherwise, you will almost certainly face life imprisonment."
Cumberbatch, of Oak Bank, Hockley, Birmingham, admitted two counts of arson that recklessly endangered lives at an earlier hearing. He also pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage to a police vehicle.
Mr Mukhtiar Ubhi, defending, said Cumberbatch had a long-standing addiction to cannabis.
