An arsonist who torched two cars including a £5,000 Porsche escaped jail today after a judge decided to give her another chance.
Lauren Jayne Cole, 20, of Llanddona, Anglesey had pleaded guilty to two charges of setting fire to a Porsche Boxster and a Vauxhall Corsa and damaging two other vehicles during an early-morning spree.
Prosecutor Duncan Bould said in the early hours of November 13 last year the defendant had gone missing, taking with her wine and Tequila.
She had walked to Beaumaris and come across the Corsa which was unlocked.
He said the car’s owner was alerted by the sight of the car on fire.
Mr Bould said: “The defendant had got in it and sheltered in it.
'Face down'
“She used, perhaps a cigarette lighter to light a mat, presumably in the footwell. It was well alight.”
By 2am, Cole had reached Church Street, Beaumaris where the Porsche was parked.
Mr Bould said its owner was awoken by the car’s alarm.
“When he looked out of his window, he saw the Boxster ablaze.”
Mr Bould said £2,000 damage was also caused to a nearby BMW while Cole also targetted a Volvo.
Firefighters later found Cole “face down” outside a GPs surgery.
Questioned later by police, it was not clear why Cole had started the fires.
"She said she had been drinking a bottle of wine and a Tequila," added Mr Bould.
"She had not given police a clear answer why she had carried out the arson attacks but said she was upset and annoyed and had not thought to the consequences of her actions."
Defending barrister Elen Owen said it was “a very sad case” and that Cole had “fallen into bad company”.
She had not wanted to harm anybody but herself on that night, she said.
Giving evidence on behalf of Cole, her grandmother Gillian Myers said she had lived with her until she was 14 and that she had now been accepted on a 12-week semi-residential intensive course at East Durham.
'Serious offences'
She said her grand-daughter felt “dreadful” about what she had done.
Sentencing Cole to 12 months jail suspended for 18 months, Judge Philip Harris-Jenkins said: “These offences are very serious.”
He said the fires could have led to “serious injuries or even death.”
He accepted that Cole was “full of genuine remorse” adding that the trigger for the offences had been a “relationship breakdown” and the fact that on the night in question she had started to write notes about her childhood.
The Judge said: “I am giving you another opportunity. Don’t waste it.”
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/drunk-anglesey-woman-set-fire-11146488
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