AN arsonist high on drink and drugs set fire to a house during the early hours of the morning as a family slept upstairs.

Mark Saunders, 36, from Blackwood, started the “motiveless” random attack by pouring petrol from a can over the front door and igniting it with a lighter.

It was lucky a neighbour saw the blaze and he woke the victims up after calling to tell them their house was on fire.

The family were able to safely get out of the property just as thick smoke started to spread upstairs, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

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Another neighbour, Nathan Brown, used a hosepipe to douse the flames at the front door in Attlee Court, Lansbury Park, Caerphilly.

Had the blaze not been discovered in time it could have spread to the rest of the house and to neighbouring properties.

"The victims may not have woken up at all"

 

Mr Donnison played CCTV footage to the court which captured Saunders, who did not know the family, starting the blaze.

The defendant “it appears, was under the influence of drink or drugs”.

Peter Donnison, prosecuting, said: “It was a frightening episode and they had to be evacuated from the property.

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“There was a high risk of physical or psychological harm.

“The fire had the potential to spread to the rest of the house and to neighbouring properties.”

One of the victims said in a statement: “I honestly thought we were going to die.

“I don’t know why he set fire to our house.

“It was complete and utter madness.

“I am just grateful we are all still alive.”

He added how he suffers from flashbacks.

Saunders, of Highbury Drive, Blackwood, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life.

He had 43 previous convictions for 115 offences.

The offence took place just after midnight on Friday, January 28.

These included robbery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and burglary.

Anthony O’Connell, representing Saunders, said his client had not targeted his victims.

“The defendant has significant mental health difficulties,” he added.

“He told me, ‘It’s the worst and most stupid thing I have done in my life.’”

Mr O’Connell said the defendant had suffered from drink and drug abuse.

“He was hearing voices as a result of the drugs,” he told the court.

The Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Saunders: “You ran away leaving those inside to their fate.

“A fire investigator later concluded that had the fire not been discovered it could have spread to the rest of the house and to neighbouring properties.

“The victims were lucky that night.

“They may not have woken up at all.”

Saunders, she said, has been assessed as posing a high risk to the public.

He was handed an extended jail sentence of nine years and eight months.