Man put in coma after girlfriend torched flat
AMAN suffered damaged lungs and had to be put into a medically-induced coma after being rescued from his burning flat.
Firefighters with breathing apparatus had to enter the property and carry the casualty to safety.
Swansea Crown Court heard the blaze had been started by the victim’s partner, Stacey Rebecca Smitham, after an argument over Valium.
Smitham and her partner, who goes by the nickname “Jock”, had been in a relationship for around 12 months, and both parties abused alcohol.
Jim Davis, prosecuting, said on the night of October 25 last year the couple were in Smitham’s flat in Waunarlwydd. The defendant was said to be in a “temper”, and was argumentative and accusing people of stealing her Valium tablets.
Her partner subsequently left and returned to his nearby flat, and went to bed. But at around 1am the following morning 32-year-old Smitham was heard by witnesses kicking his front door and shouting, and telling him that if he did not answer she would “burn the place down”.
Shortly afterwards smoke was seen coming from a window of the flat and the emergency services were called.
The prosecutor said firefighters were on the scene within eight minutes of the 999 call, and found the front door of the flat “well alight”.
Donning breathing apparatus, the firefighters entered the property and found “the entire flat filled with thick black smoke”. They located the occupant, who was suffering from smoke inhalation, and took him to safety.
When police arrived they tracked Smitham down to her own flat – but she climbed out on to a window ledge and claimed she could not find the key to the front door to let officers in. Police eventually talked her down, then used a battering ram to gain entry.
Fire officers determined the seat of the blaze had been the letter box of the target flat.
Meanwhile the casualty had been rushed to intensive care suffering from lung damage from smoke inhalation, and was placed in a medical coma for two weeks.
In an impact statement read to court, the casualty said he was concerned about the possible long-term effects of the incident on his wellbeing.
Smitham, of Cil y Coed, Waunarlwydd, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to arson when she appeared in the dock for sentencing.
The court heard she has previous convictions for criminal damage, public order matters and for battery committed against her father.
Stuart John, for Smitham, said the defendant and her partner had been in a “co-dependant and mutually destructive” relationship.
He said his client’s “troubled upbringing” and resultant substance misuse “play no small part in the commission of the offence”. The advocate said Smitham had been under the influence of Valium on the night in question, and the incident marked an “extreme escalation” in her offending.
Judge Paul Thomas QC told the defendant she had placed the life of her partner in “great peril”.
He sentenced her to five years and three months in prison. Smitham will serve half that time in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. She was also made the subject of a 10-year restraining order banning her from contacting her victim.