AN ARSONIST using “using drugs like sweets” and drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey almost every day started a fire at a block of flats.

Had the police not arrived so swiftly, Russell McGuire could have put residents’ lives in danger at the complex owned by Melin Homes in Newport.

Christopher Rees, prosecuting, said officers extinguished the blaze which the 36-year-old set by torching a letterbox on the ground floor.

He told Cardiff Crown Court: “This was a revenge attack with a high degree of premeditation.

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“There was a significant risk the fire could have engulfed the block of flats had the police not arrived so quickly.”

McGuire carried out the arson attack at Clearwell Court in the Bassaleg area of Newport on February 9 after a row with an on-off girlfriend.

The defendant, of no fixed abode, had earlier used a shovel to smash several windows there, costing the housing association between £1,500 and £2,000 to repair.

He also smeared faeces inside a Gwent Police van following his arrest and damaged his brother’s car the previous day.

Maguire pleaded guilty to arson reckless as to whether life was endangered and criminal damage.

He had 22 previous convictions for 53 offences.

Claire Pickthall, mitigating, said: “The defendant found himself on a downward spiral following the death of his mother and accepts he went out of control after the death of his father.

“He has no recollection of these few days and this spree of offending. He hit a new low.”

His barrister added how he suffered from ADHD and had battled a heroin problem.

Judge Michael Fitton QC told McGuire: “You were out of control. You’ve got a bad temper.

“You were using drugs like sweets.”

The court heard how the defendant had been taking amphetamine and crack cocaine and was sometimes drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and six litres of cider a day.

He was jailed for three years and four months.