Brandon Jones went to a town address occupied by a woman he knew on March 31, 2021.
He’d previously sent her threatening phone texts, and she’d refused to let him into her home. He threatened her once more before fleeing in a taxi. Jones went to another address to pick up his electric scooter, which he rode to a service station on Perry Street.
He returned to the woman’s house and poured the fuel through her letter box after filling a can with petrol. Jones ignited the petrol, and the fire spread from the door into the premises’ hallway.
He fled the scene on his e-scooter, while neighbours warned the victim of the blaze’s impending danger. The woman and her child had to be rescued from a first-floor window by Kent Fire and Rescue Service after they were unable to leave their property.
Jones later admitted in texts to one of the victim’s friends that he intended to harm her. He also admitted starting the fire by calling the victim’s phone and having it answered by another of her associates.
Jones, of Thistledown, Gravesend, was arrested the following day. He was charged with arson with the intent to endanger another person’s life and pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court.
The 24-year-old was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday, June 23, 2022, with a further four years to be served on licence.
‘This criminal has shown a callous disregard for the life of others by setting fire to the main exit from the victim’s property,’ said Police Sergeant John-Paul Foley of the North Division Vulnerability Investigation Team.
‘His cowardly actions could have been fatal if the responding fire crews had not acted quickly.’
‘Jones is undeniably a dangerous individual who has now begun, quite rightly, a lengthy prison sentence.’
