Vengeful ex drove from Birmingham to Wakefield to torch house where former partner slept
She plotted revenge on the man and his new partner
A scorned woman travelled over 100 miles in the dead of night to torch the car and home of her ex and his new partner, who were both forced to flee in terror.
The couple had spent months fearing Julie Trahearn after she bombarded them with emails and letters, making threats.
She eventually recruited a driver to take her from the Birmingham area up to Lofthouse in Wakefield, where she used a flammable liquid to set fire to their car.
However, it was parked close to the house, and the flames spread to the terraced property.
Trahearn, 54, was deemed a danger to society and at Leeds Crown Court this week was given an extended sentence of almost nine years.
She had been found guilty after a trial of two counts of arson with an intent to endanger life.
The driver was found guilty of arson reckless as to whether life was endangered, and simple arson. He will be sentenced at a later date.
The court was told that Trahearn, of Brushfield Road, Birmingham, was in a relationship with the victim which ended in November 2022, and which she did not take well.
Judge Anesh Pema said she “formed and held a serious grievance”.
She made his life a misery, along with his new partner, pestering them with correspondence and making threats.
She was later convicted and jailed for stalking by a court in the West Midlands.
But during that period, she had also learned the address of his ex’s new partner on Leeds Road in Lofthouse.
In the early hours of July 11, 2023, Trahearn and the male driver made the journey from the Birmingham area.
Precautions were taken, with Trahearn bringing rubber gloves and the flammable liquid in plastic bottles.
They had even changed the car’s registration plate, sticking tape over a letter to change it from a “P” to an “R”, in order to avoid detection by ANPR cameras.
Arriving in West Yorkshire, the driver stayed in the car as Trahearn set fire to the Audi using the liquid.
It then spread to the front of the house.
The couple inside the home were asleep but were awoken and noticed the flicker from the flames outside. They had to get out and raise the alarm with neighbours.
The car was destroyed and the building damaged. The total cost of the damage came to £37,614.
During her trial, Trahearn claimed she had been at a pub quiz hours before, had gone home and remained there.
During cross examination she was also proved to have lied about other issues.
In a victim impact statement, the female victim said: “We have been living a life of absolute turmoil, uncertain of what would happen next.
“I dread to think of the possible outcome if we had not been able to get out of our home.
“We are always looking over our shoulders and in a constant state of fight or flight.
“She said she wanted to ruin our lives.”
She said there had been months of threats from Trahearn who had said she would even set fire to their property.
He ex partner added that her campaign had been an “extremely traumatic experience”.
Mitigating, Mohammed Rafiq said Trahearn had significant mental-health issues and had “gone off the rails”. It was heard she drank and took cocaine.
Judge Pema told Trahearn: “You carefully planned your actions for that day.
“It was clearly a revenge attack.
“There were multiple people endangered.”
He gave her a jail sentence of five years and nine months, with an extended licence period of three years to mark her dangerousness, making a total of eight years and nine months.
She was handed a new restraining order of indefinite length to keep her away from her ex and his new partner.