AN arsonist who destroyed a Gwent Police van after setting it alight while high on drink and drugs was jailed for 10 months.

Newport Crown Court heard the force’s vehicle was “engulfed in flames” outside the city’s Bettws police station after it was torched by Kurt Higgs.

Prosecutor David Pugh said the 26-year-old was caught on CCTV starting the blaze with his lighter after he set fire to one of the van’s mirrors before it quickly spread.

Higgs, of Medway Road, Bettws, pleaded guilty to arson in the early hours of Sunday, January 14.

Mr Pugh said the inferno was first spotted when an officer arrived at the police station shortly before 6am and how he and a colleague had tried in vain to douse the flames before the fire service were called to extinguish it.

He said the Ford Transit, worth £7,500, was damaged beyond repair.

When Higgs was arrested, he told officers: “I did it. I’m going to prison. I’ve got a drinking problem.”

Mr Pugh said that the defendant was “unsteady on his feet” as he set the van on fire and had been drinking heavily and snorted two lines of cocaine in Newport on the night leading up to the offence.

The prosecutor added it wasn’t the first time Bettws police station had been subjected to arson attacks as two further vehicles were also damaged.

The court heard Higgs has two previous convictions, a public order offence from 2007 and a drunk and disorderly charge from three years ago.

Marian Lewis, mitigating, said: “Alcohol played a significant part in this offence.

“He made full admission and co-operated fully with the police.

“He sincerely regrets his actions and has expressed remorse from the outset.

“He is ashamed for causing the damage.”

She said her client had only previously drank on weekends but his problem had got out of hand. Miss Lewis added: “He started drinking throughout the week, consuming as much as he could.”

His barrister said that Higgs was determined to “abstain from alcohol in the future”.

Sentencing him, Judge Daniel Williams said: “This offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.

“Had you been convicted after a trial, the appropriate sentence would have been 15 months.”

Due to Higgs’ early guilty plea, the judge imposed a 10-month jail sentence and said he would serve half that term.

Because he has been remanded in custody since his arrest in January, the defendant is due to be freed next month.

Outside the court, Chief Superintendent Marc Budden, from Gwent Police, said, “Arson is a particularly serious offence.

"Clearly, by destroying an emergency service vehicle, this incident could have jeopardised the safety of other members of the public.”