AN ARSONIST who set fire to a rag and threw it into his girlfriend’s flat has been jailed for more than six years.
Bolton Crown Court heard how Jacob Coleman, aged 25, caused thousands of pounds worth of damage after setting fire to the flat on Dingle Walk in an early-morning attack.
The court was told he threw the rag through a window at the flat after having a huge argument with partner Georgia Davies – who he has a child with – on July 29 last year.
Peter Warne, prosecuting, told how Miss Davies and her friend had to ‘barricade themselves’ in the kitchen of the flat after Coleman, who had been out drinking, threatened the pair and said ‘none of you is getting out of here’ before trashing the living area.
He said Coleman, of Shepherd Cross Street, Halliwell, then broke a window and left, at which point Miss Davies and her friend fled. He returned to the property 10 minutes later with a rag, which was doused in an accelerant, and threw it through the window causing more than £23,000 worth of damage.
Mark Friend, defending, asked that Judge Timothy Clayson to take into account the defendant’s guilty plea.
He added: “His offending has been linked to his problematic relationship. He can, I believe, have a life without criminal offending if his life can be one away from his relationship with Georgia Davies.”
Addressing Coleman, who appeared in court via video link, Judge Clayson said: “The two women had exited the flat but you may or may not have known that they had. We cannot ignore the fact that they might have been in the flat.
“It was a ground floor flat with properties above and to the side of it.”
Judge Clayson said he had considered how much credit to give for the defendant's guilty plea to arson but believed him to be ‘dangerous’.
He added: “You acted without care or consideration, there was a threat prior to carrying out the offence, damage caused and a previous record of offences.You are a risk of causing serious harm to members of the public.”
Coleman, who was jailed for six years and three months, will serve three quarters of his sentence before being eligible for parole after which he will be on license for three years.
He was also given an indefinite restraining order from Miss Davies.
