A man left scrawled notes on the wall of his flat then doused furniture in lighter fluid and lit it – in a revenge attack aimed at the woman he believed had dumped him and the landlord who was throwing them out.

Swindon Crown Court heard James Parker, 38, was both drunk and under the influence of drugs when he started the fire that gutted the Chippenham flat he shared with his partner.

Emergency services were only alerted to the blaze when police officers on a welfare visit bumped into Parker, who has since been diagnosed with a personality disorder, walking away from the flats.

Jailing him for four years on Tuesday morning, Judge Jason Taylor QC said: “This fire, as with any fire, could so easily have taken hold. The blaze was fierce enough to blow a window out and so hot firefighters had to tackle it from outside.

“It is pure chance it was discovered as it was. Had it not been, it could have turned out very differently.”

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James Parker's custody shot Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE

Earlier, prosecutor Sam Barker told the court Parker and his partner with whom he shared the flat had been experiencing difficulties.

On June 2, matters had come to a head and Parker barricaded himself in the flat. Agitated, the man was said to have sprayed some of his partner’s clothes with lighter fluid and set fire to them – although he patted out the flames.

Two months later, on August 8, Parker was again at a low ebb. The landlord had asked them to leave. And the day before he had threatened his partner, resulting in her spending the night at a friend’s house.

Police were notified and officers dispatched to the couple’s Queens Square flat for a routine visit when they found Parker walking away from the apartment block. He told the officers there was a fire and they should “hurry up”.

The police officers could see smoke coming from the block. Of six flats, four were occupied – although only one householder was in at the time. Firefighters were called to the blaze.

Posted on walls inside the flat were a number of notes, including one apparently directed towards Parker’s partner and which concerned a named pot plant. “You can keep Steve – if he survives,” Parker wrote. Mr Barker described the arson as having elements of a revenge attack. 

The cost of the damage was estimated to be £75,000, although that did not factor in the costs of safely removing asbestos that had been disturbed in the fire.

Mr Barker said the defendant was on licence at the time, having been given 54 months in 2016 for sexually assaulting a teen girl. Parker’s record of 24 convictions for 45 offences was labelled “terrible” by the prosecutor.

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Damage to the flat in Queens Square Picture: SIOBHAN BOYLE

Parker, formerly of Queens Square, Chippenham, but appearing in court via video link from Bristol prison, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and criminal damage.

Emma Handslip, mitigating, said her client had since been diagnosed with a personality disorder, which had affected his actions when he set the fire. While at the police station after his arrest in August, a custody sergeant had made a detailed note of the man’s deteriorating mental state.

While on remand at HMP Bristol he had stabilised. He remained in a relationship with his partner.

Ms Handslip said Parker recognised he needed to work with the authorities, including probation. “He is ready and able to do that,” she added.

Judge Taylor recognised that Parker was remorseful and that his mental health condition had affected his behaviour on August 8.