Jail for man who set fire at Bicester Good Samaritan's home

Paul Glen, 48, had been taken into his victim’s Bicester home after he had to leave his own.

But Oxford Crown Court heard that his poor behaviour and alleged drug bingeing resulted in her asking him to leave. She was forced to call the police on him when he returned to the house on October 27 last year injured and angry after flipping his car in a crash the previous night.

READ MORE: Fire was so fierce it melted the thermostat

Officers evicted him from the mid-terrace home in Chichester Close and rang the tenant to say the house was locked.

However, later that evening a neighbour heard the fire alarm in the house and spoke to Glen before he disappeared into a taxi.

Firefighters found a back window was broken and a fire, which started in the living room, was burning fiercely. The house was extensively smoke-logged, a back window had blown-out and the fire had been hot enough to melt a thermostat. The family’s cat was found dead when the tenant returned to the property.

Prosecutor Cathy Olliver said: “The prosecution say this was a very mean act of revenge on someone who had given him shelter after he became angry at her.”

The taxi in which Glen was a passenger was intercepted. Glen, who had soot on his face, hands and clothing, was arrested. He had a lighter and deodorant can on him, although there was no evidence the aerosol deodorant or any other form of accelerant was used to set the fire.

The arsonist also had a laptop computer he had stolen from the house.

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In a victim personal statement, the victim said her property had been left uninhabitable. She had to move in with her parents in the Midlands and was anxious about her teen son, who remained in Oxfordshire.

Glen, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and theft.

Giles Newell, mitigating, said: “The reality is there was no one in the house at the time, thankfully, but clearly what he did was a very, very stupid thing – that is an understatement, perhaps. He would like to apologise at the outset for his actions.”

His client said he had been in ‘a real mess’ at the time of the fire. Having spent a number of years clean, staying out of trouble and running his own business, Glen faced the stress of going through unrelated court proceedings last year. He was cleared of wrongdoing, but the impact of the court case resulted in him turning to old addictions.

Jailing him for 44 months, Judge Nigel Daly said: “You were in a right mess at the time, I accept that. A real mess. Hopefully you will be able to pull yourself together a bit in the future.

“You spent some time not getting into trouble – quite a long period of time – so you can do it and you can do it particularly if you get help.”

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward