We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Andrew Foster, 53, then stabbed himself and was found beside a pool of blood in the garden of the property in Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent. However, he was yesterday spared jail despite admitting arson being reckless as to whether property would be damaged. A judge at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court suspended the 18-month prison term for two years. 

The court heard Foster commited the offence because his husband and his family had been cruel to him for a few months.

But Judge Paul Glenn called the arson “spiteful”.

Sentencing Foster, Judge Glenn said: “You said your intention was to end things and to burn the house down so your partner could not have it if you succeeded in killing yourself. That was spiteful.

“You are an intelligent man.

“You had the presence of mind to move your car from its place on the drive to the street before you started the fire. Your dogs were in the car.

“Your husband must have been completely shocked to find the property alight.”

Foster doused the house in petrol and lit matches when his husband was out running errands, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports, and his husband returned to find Foster stricken in the garden.

Peter Gilmour, prosecuting, said: “He (the husband) could see smoke coming from the kitchen window. He ran to the house and tried to open the French doors. They were locked. The sofa was on fire. He ran to the side of the property and could see a trail of blood. He found the defendant lying in the garden covered in blood.”

In an interview with Staffordshire Police, Foster said his husband had been psychologically torturing him. He said he put the dogs in the car to get them safe and added he wanted to “end things”.

He got petrol from the shed and doused it over the house and drank a quarter of a bottle of brandy. He lit matches and flicked them everywhere.

After a while he went outside and stabbed and cut himself. He said he intended to burn down the house so his husband could not have it.

Fire investigators concluded the fire was deliberately started.

In a victim statement, Foster’s husband talked of his love for him. He said the loss was not insured because the damage was caused by Foster, who was one of the joint owners of the house.

The house was in the process of being sold and he estimates it will cost between £70,000 and £100,000 to put right.

Foster, now living in Basford, Staffordshire, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether property would be damaged.

Stephen Rudge, defending, said Foster is receiving substantial psychiatric support and has engaged fully with mental health services. He said if Foster was sent to prison it would put at risk all the work that has been achieved to date.

Mr Rudge said: “It is quite clear he was mentally ill at the time. He tried to commit suicide in January 2021. It led to a period at the Harplands Hospital but it did not make those feelings go away.

“He was faced with what he saw were insurmountable problems with the marriage and the loss of the family home, which was being sold, and he decided once again to take his own life. He thought only of ending his own life. It was the easy way out and was brought about by the mental state he found himself in.

“He made sure no-one else was present. The accelerant was in the shed. He came to that horrible conclusion that he could see no way forward other than to kill himself.

“He has been receiving help and treatment. He is somebody I would hope would never come before a court again.

“He is apologetic to his husband, to his family. He appreciates his behaviour was selfish.

“He does not seek to oppose the divorce.”

The judge said he was just about persuaded he could pass a suspended sentence.

As part of the order, Foster must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 days and a six month electronically-monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am.

Foster was ordered to pay £670 costs.

The judge added that he hopes the victim can recoup some, if not all, of his losses in the civil court.

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email [email protected] or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.

Source: Read Full Article