Arsonist is jailed over Leeds house blaze

Timothy Goodall was sentenced to three years, seven months over the blaze which he started at the council house where he was living with his mother.

Leeds Crown Court heard Goodall lied to his mother that he had arranged for her to go to a meeting to discuss moving her into sheltered accommodation.

He then drove her away from the property and returned home alone before starting the fire.

Goodall used an aerosol to start the fire before going to bed. A couple living next door dialled 999 after they could smell soot and heard a fire alarm going off.

Firefighters arrived at the house on North Lane, Oulton, and took Goodall out of the property. The court heard he was grinning and “flinging his arms” as he was taken away.

Goodall later told police: “I drank a bottle of vodka and decided to burn down my mother’s house.

“It is quite difficult to burn a house down because everything is fire retardant these days.” Around £5,000 of damage was caused to the property.

Goodall pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Christopher Moran, mitigating, said Goodall had a history of alcohol abuse and depression. Jailing Goodall, Judge Penelope Belcher said: “The fact remains that you voluntarily drank an excessive quantity of alcohol.

“You had taken drugs and you deliberately started a fire where the risk must have been obvious.

“You were thinking only of yourself. Unless you address a number of issues, in particular the history of alcohol dependency, you represent a high risk of danger to members of the public.”