Jail for duo who started ‘horrifying’ house blaze
JON MACPHERSON
TWO men who caused a ‘horrifying’ house explosion as part of a £27,000 insurance scam have been jailed for a total of eight years.
Samuel Todd and Ryan Ibbitson poured ‘extensive’ amounts of petrol around the property on Cumberland Avenue in Clayton-le-Moors and turned on all the gas rings on the cooker before igniting the petrol, a court heard.
Preston Crown Court was told the house, belonging to Hyndburn Homes, exploded within seconds, left the building ‘completely destroyed’ and costing £150,683 to rebuild.
Nine cannabis plants worth £5,000, which had been grown in the loft of the property, had been moved ‘a day or two’ before the explosion at 2am on April 15, 2014.
A family living next door, who weren’t inside at the time, were also forced to move out of their home for two years while repairs were carried out.
Judith McCullough, prosecuting, told the court the incident caused a lot of ‘upheaval’ for the family and that their roof, attic and a ‘craft room’ were destroyed.
The court heard how a cot they had kept was ‘completely destroyed’ along with Christmas dec- orations made by children.
Mrs McCullough said: “[The family] felt very angry towards those involved in the fire and [the defendants] didn’t give much thought as to how much damage they had caused.’
Ibbitson, 23, of Selby Close, Baxenden, and Todd, 27, of Spencer Street, Accrington, were found guilty after a trial of conspiracy to commit arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Ibbitson was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Todd earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Both defendants also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis.
They were both jailed for four years.
Judge Jonathan Gibson said it was a ‘horrifying explosion’ which could have left people dead or badly injured.
He said: “Your families will suffer considerably as a result of the sentence of imprisonment which must follow.
“The facts of this case are an object lesson of just how dangerous the ignition of petrol in a confined space can be.”