A TEENAGER started a fire in a terrace house in revenge after his grandmother was threatened by a relative of the occupant, a court was told.

Gethin Jones, 18, of East Pentwyn, Blaina, set fire to jeans and paper by putting them on a cooker hob and igniting the gas after getting into the property in the town’s Southlands through an open window.

The house was empty, as its occupant, Mark Francis, was staying with his brother. But Jones had not bothered to check whether or not anyone was at home.

The fire went out before it could take hold because the gas ran out.

Jones pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to a charge of arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Cardiff Crown Court was told that South Wales Fire Service was called to the house at around 3.30am on June 9 this year.

By the time they arrived the fire was out, though there was smoke damage to the kitchen ceiling and walls, and the cooker surface.

A call to police about the fire, at 3.42am, was traced to a landline at Jones’ home, where he lives with his grandparents.

When police spoke to him about it Jones broke down and admitted starting the fire. He said he knew he should not have done it, but a relative of Mark Francis – who was described in court as vulnerable and alcohol dependent – had threatened to burn his grandmother’s house down, and he had wanted to show he was not scared.

Returning home from a night out in Brynmawr, he thought about the threats, became angry and set the fire. Judge Daniel Williams was told a remorseful Jones had offered, unprompted, to pay Tai Calon Housing Association the £1,326.13 costs of the damage, as he felt responsible.

Pre-sentence reports had indicated no mental disorders and no fascination with fire.

Sentencing Jones to two years’ detention in a young offenders’ institution, Judge Williams said: “You claimed this was a drunken act of revenge.

“You must recognise this was an extremely dangerous act. The consequences could have been far worse.

“You gave no thought to potential occupants, or to those living next door.”