A 'vigilante' involved in setting fire to a car, wrongly identified as being owned by a paedophile, was caught after wiping his bloodied hand on the bonnet.
Ross Lambert, of New Brighton, smashed the front offside window of the white Jaguar parked on a road in Wallasey with a hammer on October 24 last year. Liverpool Crown Court heard how the 28-year-old cut his hand while smashing the car window, which he wrongly thought belonged to a paedophile.
CCTV footage shown in court on Wednesday, March 16 showed an unknown accomplice hurled a petrol bomb at the car, which immediately exploded into a ball of flames. The pair caused £13,000 worth of damage to the Jaguar leading to it being written off.
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Merseyside Police were able to link Lambert to the crime as he had wiped his bloodied hand on the bonnet of the car.
Iain Criddle, prosecuting, said: “The second male threw a petrol bomb through the smashed window. The fire was put out by the victim himself. He was in his house and heard banging outside and saw what had gone on.
“The defendant wiped his hand on the bonnet of the car which he had cut while smashing the window and as a result DNA was recovered and identified and he was later arrested."
When interviewed Lambert made no comment but later went on to plead guilty to arson. In an impact statement the car owner told he now feels vulnerable in his own home.
He always looks around when arriving home and is now planning on moving house. He had worked hard to afford the Jaguar and has lost out financially. The incident has “affected the quality of his life negatively.”
Lambert, who appeared via video link, has now been put back behind bars for four and a half years with an extended licence of four and a half years. The court heard Lambert has 15 previous convictions including receiving a lengthy sentence in 2011 for a sadistic five hour torture gang attack on a teenager.
Martine Snowdon, defending, pointed out the offences for which Lambert was sentenced in 2011 happened when he had only been 17. He had received a suspended sentence five years ago for coercive behaviour and had not breached it.
Ms Snowdon said: “He is determined to make a change and wants to address his drinking and drug taking. He has had enough of spending time in prison.”
She said that his partner, who was in the public gallery, had written a letter in support of him and she was having a positive impact on him.
Recorder Harris said the offence mirrored those for which he was sentenced 11 years ago which included boiling water being poured on the victim and filmed before being abandoned injured and traumatised in a field.
Lambert, who then lived in New Brighton, received an indeterminate sentence but that was reduced on appeal to a seven year extended sentence. The judge also imposed a 12 year restraining order to keep away from the victim and his home.
The judge described his record as “extensive and concerning” and said it also includes assaults and wounding. The judge said that the arson occurred after the victim was targeted “because of unfounded rumours and malicious gossip.”
Recorder Harris, who described it as “misguided vigilantism”, pointed out that fire is uncontrollable especially when an inflammable liquid is used, and it could have put people at risk.
He said: “A damage attack on a vehicle is terrifying. This sort of behaviour is lawless. You told a probation officer the offence was committed under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
“It was clearly a pre-planned targeted attack designed to terrify the victim regardless of possible consequences of the fire taking hold. You clearly pose a high risk of harm. You have a clear propensity to use violence at times of emotional challenge.”
