Man set fire to Warrington house with two women and four young children inside

A man who attempted to set fire to a woman’s home in Warrington, while six people including four young children were inside, has been jailed.

At around 6am on Wednesday 13 September, Andrew Potter went to a woman’s home in Latchford, following an argument the day before.

Potter set fire to the rear kitchen door using a quilt and two jerry cans full of petrol, knowing that the woman, her sister, and four young children were in the property at the time.

The victim and her sister noticed the door had been set alight and were able to extinguish the fire by aiming a shower hose out the bathroom window.

CCTV enquiries identified Potter, and he was arrested and subsequently charged with arson with intent to endanger life.

The 39-year-old of Thelwall New Road, Warrington, was sentenced to eight years in prison at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday 28 November, after earlier pleading guilty to arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Neil Mooney, of Warrington Local Policing Unit, said: "The repercussions of what may have happened in this case are quite simply unthinkable."Potter was well aware that the victim and her young children were inside the house, and he put their lives at risk."Thankfully, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to set fire to the property, and no-one sustained any injuries. I would like to thank the courts for putting Potter behind bars, facing the consequences of his actions."

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