Court hoping for support for woman who set flat on fire

Wednesday 09 December 2020

Jersey's Royal Court has said it hopes that a 66-year-old woman with mental health problems, who set fire to the curtains in her flat, will be properly supported during her two-and-a-half year prison sentence for arson, and after her release.

The woman – whom Express has decided not to identify due to the health issues involved – said she had felt “an inner voice in her head” telling her to start the fire.

She appeared before the Superior Number - a panel that only assembles for the most serious cases - yesterday facing one count of arson.

Summing up the fact for the prosecution, Crown Advocate Chris Baglin, said Ms X had set her lounge and bedroom curtains on fire in her ground floor flat.

Pictured: Ms X appeared before Court facing one count of arson.

The court heard she had been drinking heavily the day of the incident and that “something that night said to her go on set fire to the curtain." 

Two men walking in the area saw the flames. While one was calling 999, the other went into the flat to try and get Ms X, who was heavily intoxicated according to several witnesses, but she ignored him. She eventually went out saying, “I can’t remember… I don’t remember."

When asked if anyone else was inside, Ms X said she was alone. However, her neighbour, who was living in the flat above, was getting ready for bed. She was alerted by one of the men who rang her doorbell. When she went outside, Ms X shouted, “I told you so… you knew this would happen."

The Court heard that the neighbour had made several complaints to her landlord about Ms X’s “erratic behaviour” and had called the Emergency Services on several occasions over concerns for her welfare. 

Pictured: Advocate Dix said the note sent to the neighbour was only the lyrics to a song her client had been listening to, not a threat.

A few days before the incident, Ms X had sent a note to her neighbour, which read: “A loose tongue carries bad news = be careful of stones that you throw!!!” While the Crown Advocate suggested this was a threat, Ms X’s lawyer, Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, said the note contained lyrics to a song that Ms X had been listening to.

She said that the two women had fallen out as Ms X thought her neighbour had been speaking to staff at a shop about her and told their landlord about the fact she was smoking in her flat.

A Fire Investigation Officer concluded that the fire could have spread into the flat above if the crews had been delayed and noted that, had the fire occurred at night, there would have been a “significant risk to life."

The fire caused over £21,000 worth of damage in the flat, all of which was covered by the landlord’s insurers.

Interviewed by police, Ms X denied having set the fire to get back at her neighbour as well as any intention to hurt anyone.

Her lawyer echoed this in her speech, saying: “At no point did she intend any harm to her or anyone else.”  

Pictured: Advocate Julia-Anne Dix was defending Ms X.

Advocate Dix said the neighbour had been “extremely kind” to Ms X and contacted several agencies to try and get help for her. The woman however noted that nothing had been done in spite of her efforts.

She explained Ms X didn’t remember saying to people no else was in the building, she only remembered “a feeling of relief” when she saw her neighbour was safe. 

Miss X told police officers that her neighbour hadn’t even entered her mind and that she hadn’t thought of the potential consequences of her actions.   

Looking back to the incident, she said she felt like a five-year-old in the room and as if none of it was happening to her and she was instead watching a scene from a film. “I didn’t feel right at all… it was a funny feeling,” she said.

Advocate Dix referred the Court to the psychological report which noted the woman’s complex mental health background, including her longstanding history of mental illness. The Court heard the woman had been placed in police custody 15 times under the Mental Health Law.

She said Ms X had reported having no family or friends and feeling “completely isolated” and used alcohol as a coping mechanism.

She explained that the pandemic had prevented her client from meeting with a number of local agencies that could have helped her, making her feel worse and even more isolated.  

She told Court her client was genuinely remorseful and didn’t want anyone to be hurt.

She also said Ms X was desperately seeking all the help she could get in prison. “All she wishes for is a decent, clean, happy life,” she said.

Returning the Court’s sentence, Royal Court Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith, who was sitting with Jurats Collette Crill, Charles Blampied and Jerry Ramsden, said there was no alternative to custody. 

However, he agreed that the mitigation allowed for the sentence sought by the Crown to be reduced from three years to two-and-a-half years. 

He said he hoped Ms X would not only get hope inside the prison but also upon her release, to ensure she finds a flat and does not relapse into alcohol abuse. 

The Court also imposed a three-year restraining order preventing Ms X from contacting her neighbour.