Jailed: Dad of two who attacked wife and torched home

A FATHER of two has been jailed for two years after attacking his wife and torching their family home – causing a blaze that killed three cats.

Richard Goode, 40, admitted three counts of assault and one count of arson with intent, reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Cardiff Crown Court, on Friday, heard that Goode, of no fixed abode, started to drink heavily when his marriage of six years began to break down. During this time he found out his wife had “grown close” to another man.

On April 6 and 7, Goode attacked his wife on two separate occasions.

On April 8, Goode carried out the most serious of the three assaults.

Gareth James, prosecuting, said Goode grabbed his wife by the hair and slammed her face into the breakfast bar. He then grabbed her hair again and pushed her to the ground.

Mr James told the court that Mrs Goode said she felt “degraded” by the attack. Goode left the family home and stayed in a hotel.

In the following weeks, Goode became jealous after finding out his wife had developed a relationship with her new partner.

Mr James said Goode doused the family’s sofa in petrol and torched it before the flames spread throughout the downstairs of the semi-detached house in Grove Terrace, Llanharan.

The family have been unable to return to their home since and the fire killed the family’s three pet cats.

Mr James told the court: “Mrs Goode returned home at around 4pm to find the back door was locked.

“She had picked the children up from school at 3.10pm and had done some shopping.

“When she tried the front door she saw a plume of smoke.”

Mrs Goode thought her husband was inside and had attempted to kill himself after making threats before – but he had actually left the property to return to his hotel room.

The court heard he had rung his wife earlier in the day to find out when they would be returning home.

In mitigation, Giles Hayes, defending, said Goode had made sure his wife and children were not home and described him as a “family man”.

He also told the court Goode had suffered from depression and alcohol dependency, with his mental health declining throughout the breakdown of his marriage.

Sentencing, Judge Eleri Rees said: “This was domestic abuse on a woman in her own home.

“She forged a new relationship and this angered you and in revenge, you went and bought petrol, went to the home and set a fire which caused an extreme amount of damage to the living room and downstairs and smoke damage to the rest of the house. Because of that, it has been uninhabitable.

“You knew and checked what time your wife and children would be returning home to the house but I bet you didn’t give a second thought about the fire spreading and how it could have spread to the neighbouring house.” She branded the arson a “revenge attack”. Judge Rees sentenced Goode to four years for arson and four months for attacking his wife, these will be served consecutively.

Because he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, this was reduced to two years and two months.