A FURIOUS sloshed customer who started a fire at a hotel in a “revenge” attack after being refused service for a drink has been jailed.

Kane Elliott was the worse for wear when he set a blaze in the kitchen and a courtyard bin at the King’s Head Hotel in Abergavenny.

Prosecutor Julia Cox told Cardiff Crown Court: “The defendant approached the hotel bar at 4.30pm on October 7 last year. He was drunk and was asking for another drink.

“The owner refused him service. Elliott became aggressive but left the bar.”

She said that soon after a chef left a staff meeting to go to the kitchen to start preparing food for the evening.

The court heard how he was shocked to discover a soap dispenser in flames and a pool of about two litres oil on the floor.

Ms Cox said workers then saw that a bin in the courtyard had also been torched and fire extinguishers were used to put out both blazes.

The prosecutor said they then viewed CCTV footage to find out who was responsible: “They saw the defendant, perhaps aggrieved at the refusal of service, entering the back courtyard.”

They saw a “flash of light” coming from the kitchen before Elliott was then spotted setting the bin on fire with an aerosol can and a lighter.

The police were called and he was arrested in a nearby pub.

Judge Neil Bidder QC was told Elliott resisted arrest and shouted and swore at officers who found he was carrying large kitchen knives stolen from the hotel hidden down his trousers.

The 25-year-old, formerly of Maindiff Court Hospital, Llantilio Pertholey, Abergavenny, admitted arson, burglary and obstructing or resisting a constable in the execution of their duty.

Ms Cox said Elliott, who has previous convictions for criminal damage, told detectives in interview: “He had no recollection of his offences because of his alcohol and cannabis intake that day.”

He admitted to being “angry and annoyed so wanted to steal something”.

The court heard the fires had not caused any significant damage.

Karl Williams, for the defendant, said the best mitigation he could put forward was that Elliott, who “suffers from mental health difficulties”, had pleaded guilty to the offences at the very first opportunity.

He added that his client had been offered a job at Llanwern steelworks, where his father works, upon his release from custody.

Mr Williams said that Elliott, who had already spent more than two months in prison, had acted “on the spur of the moment”.

Judge Bidder told the defendant he had carried out a “revenge” attack after being refused service at the hotel.

He jailed Elliott for a total of six months and told him he must pay a £115 victim surcharge upon his release from prison.