A drunken arsonist told police officers, “what have I done? Lock me up," after they arrived to arrest him for setting fire to his own home.
Gerrard Foott appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday for sentence after admitting one count of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The 54-year-old started a blaze in a utility room paint cupboard at his home on of Sextant Close, Murdishaw, after he’d glugged down “12 cans”.
Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said when Foott initially called the emergency services to report the fire on November 9, he claimed not to know how it began, only for the call to cut out. Foott then rang again and admitted to having started it himself.
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The seat of the fire was inside a cupboard containing tins of paint in a store room next to the kitchen and was generating “thick, toxic smoke”. Four fire engines attended and crews found the flames had “taken considerable hold, particularly downstairs”.
Paramedics treated Foott for smoke inhalation and he was taken to hospital, where he remained for three days. Mr Hussey said that shortly before Foott rang the emergency services, he called his sister in Gibraltar.
During the conversation he “suddenly” mentioned there was a fire in the house “as if it was a surprise to him”. She told him to hang up and dial 999, and she then rang Foott’s elderly neighbour to warn her of the danger.
After crews extinguished the flames, a fire investigator reported finding “severe smoke damage” in the two-storey terraced house in addition to fire and heat damage in the store room. A naked flame touching combustible materials was identified as the most likely cause.
The investigator said had firefighters not arrived when they did, the flames would have spread and generated “large quantities of toxic, black smoke” with a possible “risk to life”.
Mr Hussey said the house belonged to Foott’s nephew Dominic Burnell, who had inherited the property on condition Foott could live there following the death of Foott’s other sister.
Mr Burnell was “extremely angry with the defendant” when he arrived at the scene of the blaze and “police had to usher him away and try to calm him down”. The court heard Foott set fire to the house because of an “argument” with his nephew the night before over roof repair costs.
Mr Hussey said Foott had 14 convictions for 29 offences, beginning in the 1980s. These included a robbery in 1990, which Judge Michael Leeming said involved tying up victims in a pub.
Foott’s other convictions spanned crimes from drink driving and benefits fraud to violence including battery and an incident at a “licensed premises in Frodsham”.
Simon Christie, defending, said Foott’s admissions began early, first while calling the emergency services, and then by greeting police arriving at the scene by telling them: “What have I done? Lock me up.”
He also challenged the prosecution’s categorisation of the arson offence by disputing the level of harm, adding no statement about damage had been provided by the property’s owner, nor had the elderly neighbour issued any victim statement about the case and instead wrote a character reference in support of Foott.
Mr Christie said alcohol was a “perennial problem” for his client but Foott had “taken steps over the years to address his problems”, including engaging with the Change Grow Live (CGL) service, but as Foott didn’t drink every day the severity of his “binge” sessions was obscured and he “didn’t get the treatment which might have been offered” otherwise.
He said: “Matters became much worse when lockdown came. The defendant spent longer and longer on his own, longer and longer in drink, and longer and longer dwelling on his problems.”
Mr Christie said Foott’s six months in prison on remand had been “of considerable benefit to him” and he was now a “valued” and “trusted” mentor on his wing.
Judge Leeming agreed with Mr Christie’s categorisation of harm and sentenced Foott to 40 months in prison.
Foott must also pay the statutory surcharge.
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The judge said the blaze could have spread to neighbouring properties. He said there had been an "element of revenge" in the motive for setting the fire, and added a doctor’s report said Foott had no “mental disability other than voluntary intoxication”.
Recounting the moment of Foott’s arrest, Judge Leeming said: “You were outside the house with a fire officer. When spoken to by the police, you were heavily intoxicated and repeatedly said ‘what have I done? Lock me up’.”
He added: “This was a very dangerous and inappropriate response to the falling-out with Mr Burnell, to set the fire in the way you did. You have taken steps to address your behaviour and are now a valued and trusted prisoner on the wing.
“You accept there’s still time to be served and you’re making the best of it.”
