Arsonist locked up for torching homeless woman's tent in Hyde Park and destroying all her belongings

James Geldard torched the victim's tent as it was pitched beside a bowling green hut on Woodhouse Moor, Hyde Park, in February this year.

Leeds Crown Court heard the tent belonged to Geldard's girlfriend's sister and it had been given to her by a homeless charity.

Geldard used a lighter to set fire to it after a row with his partner in the early hours of the morning.

Andrea Parnham, prosecuting, said Geldard was living in a bedsit in the Hyde Park area at the time of the incident.

Geldard and his partner had an argument at 3am on February 8 and she went to her sister's tent to stay with her.

The defendant went to the tent around 7am and tried to persuade his girlfriend to return to his home but she refused.

Geldard then said: "I'm going to burn down the tent."

He used a lighter to set fire to the bottom corner of the tent but the two women were able to extinguish the flames.

The 27-year-old set the tent alight for a second time but they were able to pat out the flames.

Ms Parnham said the sisters got out of the tent and walked away.

Geldard set the tent alight for a third time.

It quickly became engulfed in flames and destroyed all the victim's belongings inside.

The defendant was arrested and denied responsibility when interviewed.

He told officers his partner had committed the offence when she found out he had slept with her sister.

Geldard, now of Stanley Road, Harehills, pleaded guilty to arson.

The prosecutor said the victim was terrified during the incident and feared Geldard was trying to kill her.

She said in a statement: "I am homeless as it is so I don't own many belongings.

"What I did own meant a lot to me and now that has all gone."

Geldard has previous convictions for criminal damage, assault and escape.

Michael Walsh,mitigating, said: "While he was being foolish in the extreme and idiotic, it was an effort to upset his partner.

"It was not an attempt to burn her or cause her physical harm."

Geldard was jailed for two years and seven months.

Judge Robin Mairs said: "The law will and must protect the poor as well as the wealthy.

"The economic loss to (the victim) was huge."

The judge said the offence was aggravated by the fact that there was a "domestic element" to it and because the arson was committed next to a public amenity.