Arsonist in balaclava set fire to house with petrol in 'vendetta'

A BALACLAVA-CLAD arsonist waging a "vendetta" set fire to a house in Caernarfon. Kevin Evans poured petrol through the letterbox of a property before setting it alight.

- By DAVID POWELL Daily Post Reporter

He had filled a jerry can with the petrol before pushing the nozzle through the letterbox, and later putting the container, which was in a bag for life, into a skip.

The defendant was also seen carrying a long knife or machete.

The occupant spotted what was happening and managed to flee with her partner. A casualty injured in the incident named Evans, 33, as the suspected arsonist, and he was later arrested. Police rushed to his home and found him trying to wash his petrol-soiled clothes.

Evans later pleaded guilty to committing arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered in the incident which happened in Cae Llwybr in Caernarfon last December.

Yesterday, a judge at Caernarfon Crown Court jailed Evans, of Cae Bold, Caernarfon, for five years and seven months.

He was also handed a six-month jail term to run concurrently for possession of a knife - the machete - in a public place.

Prosecutor John Wyn Williams said the fire service told police about a report of a “petrol bomb” being thrown at a house in Cae Llwybr in Caernarfon and that the house was “alight” on Monday, December 9 last year.