The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Killer back in jail after setting his own home alight
WALKER MAN’S NEIGHBOURS LIVED IN FEAR OF FIRE OR EXPLOSION
A CONVICTED killer who left neighbours living in fear of a fire or explosion has been jailed after causing his house to go up in flames.
Wayne Sinclair, who was convicted of manslaughter in 1997 for stabbing his 19-year-old best pal to death for stealing his drugs at a Christmas party, had threatened to blow up properties and caused such concern among those living near him in Walker, Newcastle, some had fire-proofed their homes and installed ring video doorbells.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Sinclair was living in an end terrace house on Sandy Crescent, Walker, next door to his wheelchair-using sister and her husband and daughter. His family said his mental health had deteriorated and he is an alcoholic.
On the evening of November 16 last year, one neighbour, who said she had been threatened by Sinclair previously, said she could see him inside his living room “acting bizarrely”, headbutting a window and throwing things at the window and flicking a lighter on and off.
Around 11pm, another neighbour heard a smoke alarm and when he looked through Sinclair’s window, could see him asleep on the sofa, which was on fire. The man raised the alarm and roused Sinclair, who came out covered in soot.
Firefighters found the living room on fire, with the sofa well alight. Sinclair’s family next door had been alerted and evacuated.
A fire investigation found a lit item had either fallen or been pushed through the left hand arm rest of the sofa. More than £13,500 of damage was caused.
The fire brigade had been called out in October last year after reports of petrol being set alight in the street and on November 13 a neighbour said they saw Sinclair with a ligature around his neck.
Judge Penny Moreland said: “There were previous threats to blow up property. Neighbours had fire-proofed their properties because of anxieties about his behaviour in the past.” Prosecutor Omar Ahmad added: “What happened is something the neighbours feared would happen.”
When interviewed by police, he said he had consumed six litres of White Storm cider and had a cigarette, which he thought he had put out before he dozed off. He denied deliberately setting the fire but agreed it was reckless and endangered lives. One neighbour said in a victim impact statement: “I’m really scared. My bedroom is next to his and I don’t feel safe in my house with him there.”
The court heard Sinclair has 140 previous convictions, including for the manslaughter stabbing of Lee Marshall in 1997, for which he was jailed for five years. For the latest offence, he pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and was jailed for 45 months with an extended licence period of a further 27 months.
Judge Moreland told him neighbours had worried what he would do before the offence, saying: “They refer to fears you were going to cause a fire or explosion. They refer to callouts of the fire service in the weeks before these events, because of your conduct.”
Jonathan Pigford, defending, said: “He has had a troubled existence and has abused alcohol and drugs on occasions. He has made comments to neighbours from time to time. He says he has no illwill towards those neighbours.
“He has not had any intimate relationship or employment or independent living.”