Arsonist lit fire outside flat in motiveless attack
A MAN set a fire outside a couple’s front door in a seemingly random and motiveless attack, a court has heard.
Joshua Cullen climbed the stairs to the entrance to the flat and used a cigarette lighter to ignite a pile of rubbish.
Swansea Crown Court heard one of the couple was able to escape the flat before the flames took hold, trapping her partner inside. It was only the swift arrival of firefighters which meant the man got out safely.
Stephen Rees, prosecuting, said the arson attack took place on the morning of April 18 at a flat above a commercial property on Swansea’s Llangyfelach Road.
Cullen climbed the steps leading to the front door of the flat and lit a cigarette before using the lighter to ignite a pile of rubbish by the doorstep, much of it waste from an ongoing refurbishment of the property. He then left the scene.
The court heard the tenants were woken around 7.30am by a “loud bang”, and upon opening the front door saw a fire burning on the landing. The woman was able to flee the property but by the time her partner tried to leave the fire was too big and he was forced to seek shelter in the flat.
The fire service was called, and firefighters were soon on the scene.
The court heard Cullen was identified from CCTV footage, and the following day he was arrested at a flat in Griffith John Street. Officers also recovered the distinctive red and white jacket he had been wearing the previous day from a nearby flat roof.
In statements read to the court, the couple said the incident had left them frightened and anxious, and unable to return to live in a property they had called home. The man said if help had not arrived as quickly as it had he feared he would have been killed in the fire, and the experience had exacerbated his post-traumatic stress disorder.
The court heard the
defendant did not know the victims, and there appeared to be no motive for the attack.
The cost of the damage caused by the fire was put at some £5,000.
Cullen, 27, who also goes by the name Joshua Lee Rosser, of Cefn Road, Bonymaen, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered when he appeared in the dock via videolink from prison for sentencing.
He had also previously pleaded guilty to a charge of vehicle interference, an offence which saw him trying to break into a Ford Focus car parked on Llangyfelach Road shortly before setting the fire.
The court heard he has 21 previous convictions for 50 offences including criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon, affray, grievous bodily harm, and robbery.
Andrew Evans, for Cullen, said it was accepted the defendant faced a lengthy custodial sentence.
Judge Geraint Walters said what Cullen had done had been “outrageously dangerous”, and it must have been a terrifying experience for the couple.
He said no explanation for the attack had been put forward, and while presentence reports had identified a history of psychiatric troubles and heroin use from the age of 16 there was no diagnosis of any psychiatric condition.
Giving the defendant a quarter discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to a total of 45 months, comprising 45 months for the arson and four months for the vehicle interference to run concurrently.