2004: WIGAN MAN JAILED FOR ARSON REVENGE ATTACK
2004: A man responsible for setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's residence as an act of revenge was sentenced to five years in prison this week.Stuart Reeve, aged 25 from Wood Lane, Heskin, entered a terraced house in Wigan when Kerry Fairhurst and her daughter were absent.
He ignited a chair, turned on the gas hob's ring and placed a tea towel on it, then activated the oven and other burners.
Additionally, he meticulously removed the two smoke alarms.
Fortunately, a neighbor noticed the fire and called emergency services.
Another local managed to force his way into the burning home but required assistance to escape.
Judge Denis Clark remarked that the incident could have resulted in a tragic outcome, describing Reeve’s actions as stemming from childish spite fueled by alcohol and drugs.
The neighboring houses housed babies and young children.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, it was revealed that after intentionally igniting the fire, Reeve contacted Kerry Fairhurst's sister, Tina, and expressed hope that her daughter Charlie and Kerry herself had perished in the flames.
Reeve initially denied committing arson and being reckless regarding lives but later changed his plea to guilty after a trial.
He and Kerry Fairhurst had been in a relationship for about two years, ending on February 1 when she expelled him from their home.
Days afterward, Reeve broke into the house and started the fire, which might have caused an explosion.
He was detained following a car crash into a local garage in a suicide attempt.
During questioning, Reeve admitted he broke the window to gain entry and that smoking a cigarette may have ignited the chair.
He claimed he used a duvet to extinguish the fire but panicked and left the scene.
Reeve denied activating the gas supply but acknowledged dismantling the smoke alarms.
Defense solicitor Geoffrey Whelan stated that Reeve, with three prior convictions, was suffering from an adjustment disorder of a depressive nature.
