Lives were put at risk by a reckless resident who deliberately damaged his gas meter and warned "I'm going to blow the whole street up".
Sinka Razvan told his neighbour to be "ready to evacuate" after leaving his house with large volumes of gas seeping out while he went to walk his dog. Newcastle Crown Court heard the neighbour, on Station Road, Wallsend, who had heard two loud bangs and saw him squirting liquid onto her front path that she feared he may ignite, called the police in fear.
Officers arrived in the area and found Razvan, who was arrested while out walking his dog on Wallsend High Street. A potential disaster was only averted by "sheer luck" when police went to the property to return his dog and noticed the smell.
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Prosecutor Rachael Glover told the court when officers returned the dog to Razvan's home, before he was taken to the police station, they noticed a "strong smell" of gas. Miss Glover told the court: "When they searched the property they found the gas meter had been severely damaged and was leaking a large amount of gas. A hammer was located nearby."
The court heard because of the risk of explosion posed by the leaking gas neighbouring properties on Station Road had to be evacuated. One resident, whose granddaughter had just been at the house, said he was "shaken" and feared what could happen to his family and property.
Northern Gas engineers attended and confirmed uncontrolled natural gas was entering Razvan's property. Miss Glover said an expert confirmed that while gas explosions are rare, an uncontrolled leak, if not reported within an hour or so, would endanger lives and properties in the vicinity.
She added: "At the time of the defendant's arrest it was unknown to the police and others, save for the defendant, that a substantially damaged gas meter had been left unattended in his property.
"It was by chance that the police became aware of the gas leak due to taking the defendant's dog home before taking him to the police station. There was a high risk to the lives of the officers when they attended the address and high risk to neighbouring, occupied addresses."
Razvan, 36, admitted damaging property being reckless as to whether life is endangered and sending communication conveying false information. Recorder Brian Whitehead sentenced Razvan to six years behind bars with a five year restraining order to keep him away from the street where he was living.
The judge told him: "It was sheer luck police attended the property in order to drop off your dog and smelled gas. There was a high risk to the lives of those officers, had one of them switched on a light for example. There was a high risk to neighbouring, occupied addresses.
"If the police had not attended at that time, the gas leak would have continued. There was a high risk of explosion, at best causing extensive damage and at worst severe physical harm or death."
Matthew Purves, defending, said Razvan is of previous good character and worked in catering until the pandemic hit. Mr Purves said Razvan, who has PTSD and other mental health problems as a result of a traumatic background, had delivered a "couple of blows" to the meter after having to top it up every two to three days.
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