By David Powell
A balaclava-clad arsonist waging a “vendetta” set fire to a house in Caernarfon. Kevin Evans poured petrol through the letterbox of a property before setting it alight.
He had filled a jerry can with the petrol before pushing the nozzle through the letterbox, before later putting the container, which was in a bag for life, into a skip.
The defendant was also seen carrying a long knife or machete. The occupant spotted what was happening and managed to flee with her partner.
A casualty injured in the incident named Evans, 33, as the suspected arsonist, and he was later arrested. Police rushed to his home and found him trying to wash his petrol-soiled clothes.
Evans later pleaded guilty to committing arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered in the incident which happened in Cae Llwybr in Caernarfon last December. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
Today a judge at at Caernarfon Crown Court jailed Evans, of Cae Bold, Caernarfon, for five years and seven months. He was also handed a six-month jail term to run concurrently for possession of a knife – the machete – in a public place.
Prosecutor John Wyn Williams said the fire service told police about a report of a “petrol bomb” being thrown at a house in Cae Llwybr in Caernarfon and that the house was “alight” on Monday, December 9 last year.
Officers arrived at 2.05pm and found smoke coming from the property. They found a blowtorch outside and a casualty, Andrew Marshall, on the ground suffering from “non-fatal” injuries from the fire.
Mr Marshall named the defendant Evans as being responsible for the blaze. Mr Marshall was taken to hospital for treatment.
Earlier a witness Mia Jones had been walking home when she saw the defendant dressed in black and “disguised” in a balaclava, said the prosecutor.
He was walking with a limp and carrying a green bag for life from a supermarket. She got home at 1.55pm then heard a “rustling” sound and saw “some sort of nozzle (being) stuffed through the front door (from) a green jerry can outside,” the court heard.
On the other side of the door was the outline of a person, said prosecutor Mr Wyn Williams. Ms Jones ran upstairs and told her partner someone was trying to put petrol through the letterbox and they had to get out.
The pair fled but some £7,000 worth of damage was caused to the front door and porch of the Adra housing association property by the fire.
The court heard police went to Evans’ home and found him washing clothes amid a smell of petrol. Enquiries showed Evans at a Texaco garage 19 minutes before the fire.
He is seen on CCTV buying a jerry can and filling it with petrol, paying cash and leaving as a passenger in a car. Officers seized an Aldi carrier bag smelling of petrol from a skip.
CCTV footage also showed a person with a distinct limp carrying a large knife or machete in the area. That person matched the description of Evans’ clothes.
Evans gave no comment answers in an interview with police. Elen Owen, defending, said there had been a vendetta involving long-standing threats and violence to which Evans had been subjected by individuals whose names “are not unknown to these and other courts”.
Days before the arson, Evans had been assaulted with a golf club at Min-y-Nant store in Caernarfon, she said. It left him with a fractured skull and other injuries and he went to hospital.
However he “behaved very badly” there and discharged himself against medical advice. Ms Owen said Evans has been diagnosed with a brain injury from that incident since he has been on remand at HMP Berwyn.
She argued that symptoms of the head injury played a part “to some extent” in his decision to commit the arson.
Jailing Evans, the judge Her Honour Nicola Jones also imposed a ten-year restraining order prohibiting Evans from referring to or approaching Mia Jones or Andrew Marshall.
She also pointed out the tenant of the house – a Mr Terence Riley – was not present at the time of the arson attack and was not involved in it in any way.
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