Suspended sentence for fire woman

Vanessa Wright, 40, deliberately set alight to a mattress then closed the door before leaving the house in Torre Place, Burmantofts, Leeds.

A neighbour overheard someone saying to Wright “you’ll get your move now” but the court heard she denied that was her motive.

The fire brigade attended and restricted fire damage to the bedroom.

After her arrest she claimed to have had four drinks but told a probation officer later she had actually had eight cans of lager and a bottle of wine.

Simon Alexander, representing Wright, said she had never been in trouble before and had learnt her lesson and was now addressing her drink problem.

Wright admitted arson on January 24 and was sentenced to 51 weeks in prison suspended for two years with 12 months supervision and 180 hours unpaid work.

Judge Kerry Macgill told her he would give her the benefit of the doubt that she was feeling morose in drink when she started the fire rather than a deliberate motive to get a move.