Axe-wielding jealous Leeds thug burnt down ex's home days before Christmas
A jealous thug attacked his ex with an axe before torching her home when he spotted a text message sent by her new boyfriend.
Glenville Pyke was jailed this week at Leeds Crown Court for the attack on the woman’s home in Armley which was left “obliterated”, causing more than £31,000 of damage.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said: “We have a history of domestic violence but it never got this extreme.
“My house has been burnt down and all my belongings are damaged. My whole life was in that house.”
The court heard that the couple had been together for 14 years but it ended in March last year.
On December 20 last year, they had been to watch their son play football and returned to her home on Abbott Road.
But when she received the message they began to argue and Pyke threw a glass at her head, causing a cut. He then stamped on her legs as she curled up in a ball on the floor.
She called the police and gave a statement, but Pyke returned in the early hours of the next day carrying an axe. He came up the stairs swinging the weapon, catching and cutting her knee.
Pyke told her: “I’m going to burn down this house.” He then smashed up her bed with the axe and tried to set fire to it.
She fled from the house, chased by Pyke, but he then returned to the property as she called the police. When she returned to her street, she could see black smoke billowing from the property.
Prosecutor Emily Hassell said heat and smoke damage had “obliterated” the house. Residents either side had to be evacuated as the fire service tackled the blaze.
The total cost of the damage came to £31,658.
The axe was found discarded in a nearby garden the next day. It contained Pyke’s DNA on the handle and victim’s DNA on the blade. Her blood was also found on his trainers.
Pyke, 46, gave a prepared statement denying the allegations, then refused to answer questions thereafter.
He later admitted arson as to whether life was endangered, two counts of ABH and possession of a blade article on the day his trial was due to begin.
He has 26 convictions from 63 offences, including ABH.
Mitigating, Mark Foley said Pyke used cocaine and was in drink at the time, and said while it may explain it, he realised it was an aggravating factor.
He said “the red mist came down”, that he regretted his actions and was “devastated by the predicament he had placed himself in”.
Held on remand at HMP Leeds, Pyke appeared in court via video link and spent much of the sentencing hearing with his head bowed.
Judge Neil Clark told Pyke: “It’s clear to me you have a serious problem managing and controlling your emotions. It’s obvious you reacted in a jealous way.”
He jailed Pyke, of Mistress Lane, Armley, for five years.