Leeds family 'could have been killed' by fire started in their garden by drug addict
No explanation given as to why yob started blaze
A drug addict high on spice and crack cocaine started a fire in the back garden of a home as the occupants slept.
Shane Earp sparked the blaze which consumed a tree and was close enough to the property to crack an upstairs window due to the intense heat.
The 33-year-old, who is already serving sentences for burglary, was given a new sentence at Leeds Crown Court this week after admitting a charge of arson reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Judge Simon Batiste said of the victims: “If that fire had taken hold they could have been killed by it.”
The court heard that at around 4am on August 16 last year, Earp entered the garden of the property on Darfield Crescent and set fire to a pine tree.
It then spread to a fence, an oven and carpet. The heat caused the window to smash.
The family of four had been asleep inside with a female occupant being awoken by the fire, who then raised the alarm.
CCTV from neighbouring properties allowed homeless Earp to be identified as the perpetrator. He was later arrested but refused to answer police questions.
He was jailed earlier this year for 18 months for burglary, which is running consecutively to a 27-month sentence for previous break ins.
Prosecutor Matthew Harding said Earp also had a caution from 2014 for arson.
Mitigating, Martin Morrow said Earp had a history of homelessness and a misuse of the synthetic cannabis drug, spice, and crack cocaine. He said he was heavily under the influence of both at the time of the fire.
Judge Batiste told Earp: “Why you did it is not entirely clear. You claimed you had no grudge.”
He told Earp he rejected an earlier story that the cigarette lighter in his hands simply exploded and sparked the blaze, a claim Mr Morrow said Earp no longer pursued.
Judge Batiste jailed him for three years, which will run consecutively to existing sentences.