A woman who torched the door of her neighbour's flat has been given an extended sentence as a dangerous offender.
Michelle Griffiths had spent the previous few hours "ranting and raving" outside the flat, repeatedly kicking the door and hurling abuse at the woman inside before using a Zippo lighter to set the door alight. Swansea Crown Court heard firefighters using breathing apparatus had to make their way into the smoke-logged maisonette and carry the tenant to safety.
The court heard Griffiths is a "complex individual" whose mental health difficulties are exacerbated by her abuse of alcohol and illegally-obtained prescription drugs.
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Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said late on the night of November 20, 2022, into the early hours of the following morning neighbours of Griffiths in Heol Calfin in Ravenhill, Swansea, heard her shouting and swearing and kicking the external front door of one of the flats in the block. The court heard the disturbance went on for a number of hours with the defendant screaming abuse at the occupant of the flat and calling her a "whore" and a "slag", and saying she had "ruined her life". Mr Simpson said then at around 2.15am Griffiths knocked on the door of one of the neighbours to tell her there was a fire.
The court heard attempts were made to shout to the tenant of the affected flat through the letterbox but the door was well alight. Firefighters were soon on the scene and, after extinguishing the blaze, they donned breathing apparatus and climbed the stairs of the heavily smoked-logged maisonette. They found a woman suffering the effects of smoke inhalation in the bedroom of the property and carried her to safety. The casualty was later to say that the smoke in her flat had been so thick she thought she was going to die.
The court heard that when police arrived they found 49-year-old Griffiths in the street - she was talking incoherently and was making reference to owing money to people in Liverpool. She later told officers she had used "mesh" and a Zippo cigarette lighter to set fire to do the door but did not think it would develop in the way it had. However, in a subsequent interview she answered "no comment" to all questions asked.
In an impact statement which was read to the court, the victim of the arson attack said had it not been for the quick response of the emergency services she did not think she would have survived. She said she breaks down in tears every time she thinks about what happened.
Michelle Joanne Griffiths, of Heol Calfin. Ravenhill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered when she appeared in the dock via video link for sentencing. She has four previous convictions for eight offences including criminal damage, battery, racially aggravated public order, being drunk and disorderly, and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Andrew Evans, for Griffiths, said it was clear from the pre-sentence and psychiatric reports that the defendant had struggled with alcohol for much of her life and, more recently, with non-prescribed prescription drugs. He said his client had led a very isolated life and, exacerbated by her drug use, "petty arguments almost inevitably developed into more serious matters".
Judge Geraint Walters said Griffiths had been seen "ranting and raving" outside her victim's flat before setting fire to the door. He told her she had committed a very serious offence and had risked people's lives. The judge said he had read pre-sentence and psychiatric reports on the defendants and it was clear she was a "complex individual" with significant needs in terms of her mental health, and he said Williams' antecedent record showed she had a "disposition to unrestrained violence" exacerbated by her use of alcohol and illegally-obtained prescription drugs.
Griffiths was made the subject of an eight-year extended sentence for public protection comprising four years in custody followed by a four-year licence period. The defendant must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before she can apply for release but it will be for the parole board to determine if she is safe to be released.
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