‘Pathetic’ boyfriend torched partner’s pub after accusing her of seeing someone else
‘HEARTBROKEN’ VICTIM LEFT ONLY WITH CLOTHES SHE STOOD UP IN
A ‘JEALOUS’ boyfriend set fire to his partner’s pub after accusing her of seeing another man.
Karl Banks, 38, had been in a relationship with Leanne Brownbridge for six months when he believed she was seeing someone else.
After he confronted her about it, an argument erupted before an enraged Banks set fire to the Earl of Balcarres pub, in Wigan, where she lived.
Ms Brownbridge was at hospital with her sick teenage daughter at the time, and returned home to discover what she described as ‘a scene from a horror film.’
All of her possessions were destroyed in the blaze and she was left homeless.
At Bolton Crown Court yesterday, Banks was jailed for a total of three years and four months.
Prosecutor Jane Dagnall told the court that Ms Brownbridge had taken her 16-year-old daughter to hospital at about midday on February 2 this year.
She had fallen ill earlier that day, and Ms Brownbridge had asked Banks to collect her from school.
While they went to the hospital, Banks stayed at the pub to look after Ms Brownbridge’s two bulldogs.
He later took food to the pair before returning to the pub.
The court heard that the couple had exchanged messages over WhatsApp throughout the afternoon, but things ‘turned nasty’ after Banks started drinking Jagermeister.
At about 10.10pm, he began asking Ms Brownbridge about a man named ‘Jimbob.’ After an argument, Ms Brownbridge told Banks to get out of the pub.
The court heard a furious Banks then ‘trashed’ her bedroom and set fire to an object before fleeing the pub. At 11.45pm, Ms Brownbridge received a call from the police to say the pub was on fire.
She returned home to discover it taped off, but was allowed to collect her dogs from the bar area.
“The next day she returned and was hysterical to see what she described as a scene from a horror film,” Ms Dagnall said.
“She and her daughter had lost everything.”
The court heard that more than £16,000 worth of possessions were destroyed in the fire, including jewellery, for which Ms Brownbridge was not insured.
Ms Dagnall said investigators had determined the fire had started on a bed and the damage was restricted to the first floor accommodation of the pub, which was closed at the time due to coronavirus restrictions.
After leaving the pub, Banks slept overnight in a field before heading to his mother’s home and telling her to phone the police.
He was arrested at the address on the afternoon of February 3, and admitted to police that he had been involved in a fire.
He said the thought of her sleeping in the bed with someone else had led to him setting fire to it, Ms Dagnall told the court.
Banks, who has three previous convictions for seven offences, pleaded guilty to a charge of arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered at an earlier hearing.
Louis French, mitigating, said Banks ‘did not intend to cause such hardship’ for Ms Brownbridge.
“He is somebody who is ashamed at what he has done,” Mr French added “He meant the lady no harm.
“Clearly, drink did not help him form the proper judgement. He was desperately in love with this lady. He, maybe wrongly, maybe rightly, thought that her love was elsewhere.”
Sentencing Banks, of Great Acre, Wigan, Judge Tina Landale said he had been ‘consumed by jealousy’ at the time. She added: “In a pathetic display of patriarchal behaviour, you decided to punish Ms Brownbridge.
“In a rage, you trashed her bedroom and sought revenge for what was only a perceived infidelity.
“She was left homeless and with only the clothes she was stood up in.”
Judge Landale imposed a restraining order preventing Banks from contacting Ms Brownbridge and her daughter.