A MOTHER of eight who set fire to a van after pouring petrol over her ex-partner's brother has been spared an immediate jail term. Gemma Peregreen, 37, was handed a two year prison term suspended for two years for the arson attack, which took place in front of horrified neighbours in Monmouth's Carbonne Close on Saturday evening, February 26.
Newport Crown Court heard how she poured petrol from a jerry can on Tyrone Webb following a row and then torched his new van.He had gone to her flat to collect his brother’s belongings after their long-term relationship had ended.
“Because of that history, the two of you exchanged unpleasant words," Judge Daniel Williams told Peregreen.
“You appeared to him to be under the influence of alcohol....You went to throw petrol over him and he managed to parry away from you after you lunged at him....You then poured petrol on his van and set fire to it.
“You were reckless as to whether the lives of other people were in danger....There was the use of an accelerant and multiple people may have been in danger.
Mobile phone footage played to he court showed the van going up in flames. Mr Webb said in a victim impact statement that the damage to his van, which he had just bought for his waste collection business, was more than £2,000, and he could have been disfigured if the blaze reached him.
“I never want to see her again,” he said. Ross McQuillan-Johnson for Peregreen said she was “disgusted” by her behaviour, but had been assessed as a low risk of reoffending, having one previous conviction for battery dating back to 2001.
Peregreen, now of Smithville Place, St Briavels, admitted a charge of arson reckless as to whether life was endangered. Sentencing her, Judge Williams told Peregreen he believed there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.
As well as the suspended jail term, she must complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and pay £337 in a surcharge and costs. The judge also imposed a 10-year order not to contact Mr Webb and told her "don't mess up".