Southampton man jailed for arson

Following an incident in January, a Southampton man has now been jailed for two years and nine months.

At around 1:20am on 8 January, police were called to a property in Granby Grove.  The two occupants suspected someone was trying to break in, and they were not wrong.

27 year old Shane McCarthy gained access to the property through the kitchen window. The occupants locked themselves in a room, and when McCarthy failed in his attempts to access the bedroom, he left. However, before doing so he set light to something in the kitchen.

Luckily, the occupants were able to get out of the property, despite the smoke and flames. The fear will live with them for quite some time though.

McCarthy returned to the property where he was arrested by police. He appeared in court in February where he pleaded guilty to arson. He then appeared at Southampton Crown Court on Friday last week (29 April) and was handed his sentence.

Commenting via their social media page, a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: 

“This incident left the victims in genuine fear for their lives and could quite easily have had tragic consequences.

By putting McCarthy behind bars, a dangerous individual has been taken off the streets and we hope this result reassures our communities that we will do all we can to get justice for victims of crime.”