A DRUNK man who set fire to his flat and tried to frame somebody else had to be rescued from his window ledge.

Preston Crown Court heard the fire started by Philip Andrew Martin had not only put his own life at risk but cost surrounding businesses more than £100,000 in damage and lost earnings.

Prosecutor Rebecca McGregor said Martin had started the fire at the flat he sub-let in Gannow Lane, Burnley, using lighter fluid and had made no attempt to call the emergency services.

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It was in fact his neighbour Melita Beldad who raised the alarm after hearing a loud bang and Martin’s screams for help in the early hours of June 6.

The court heard the blaze happened days before Martin, 54, was due to be evicted from the flat he had sub-let from Joanne Chadwick for two years.

Ms McGregor said Martin, who has suffered from spinal compression since childhood, had hatched the plan to start the fire to cover up increased back pain to his employer, caused by a drunken fall he had suffered earlier that night.

Ms McGregor said: “The defendant’s property was connected to Miss Beldad’s property. On that night she had been struggling to sleep. She heard a loud bang. She heard the noise of glass smashing. She went outside in her night clothes.

“She saw there was smoke coming from the property next door. She was frightened. She was concerned the fire would spread. She telephoned the emergency services. She had to stand and watch as the property next door was burning.

“She heard a male voice shouting for help. It would appear this was the defendant’s voice.”

Ms McGregor said firefighters managed to rescue Martin from the window ledge of his flat at around 3.20am and he sustained no serious injuries.

CCTV footage recovered by police showed that no-one had been in the downstairs communal area of the building where the fire had started. Arson investigators discovered the back window of the property had been smashed and lighter fluid had been used as an accelerant to set fire to curtains.

The following day Martin handed himself in at Accrington Police Station and confessed to starting the blaze.

Ms McGregor said: “In his interview he admitted and explained how he started the fire. Earlier that day he had consumed five to six pints of bitter and then had a litre bottle of cider. He went into the shop next door to purchase more alcohol. He was a seven or eight on the intoxication scale. He slipped. He hurt his back. He knew this would cause him difficulties in his work in the long term. He hatched a plan to smash the window. He doused the curtains in with lighter fluid and set fire to them.

“He was taken aback by how quickly the fire took control. He didn’t call the fire service. He was not aware of whether his neighbours were in next door.”

The court heard that Miss Chadwick had a hairdressing business underneath the flat and also sub-let the shop next door to her partner who ran a sign business. Both of those buildings were severely damaged in the fire.

In a victim impact statement read out in court Miss Chadwick said she had been unable to work and support her family because she had lost all of her stock. including hair dyes, peroxides and towels, and has been left with one pair of scissors. Her partner lost around £800 in stock. She said she felt let down by Martin and couldn’t believe someone she thought was a friend could have done this.

The owner of all the buildings, including the adjoining Londis store, Mohammed Amir Khan, said he had lost around £12,000 in rent. His insurance company has also told him it will cost around £75,000 to repair his properties and take around 12 months.

Defending, Darren Lee-Smith said his client had shown remorse and taken full responsibility for his actions.

Mr Lee-Smith said: “The only mitigation in this case if the defendant’s early guilty plea. He handed himself into the police and made full and frank admissions.

“The defendant appreciates there was a risk to life. Perhaps the most significant risk was faced by this defendant.

“He accepts the result of this fire could have been catastrophic. But thankfully it wasn’t.

Martin, who has 15 convictions for 21 offences, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether or not life had been endangered.

Jailing Martin for 33 months, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “I am quite satisfied that self-induced intoxication caused you to think in a warped way and a way you would not have thought it you were sober. You did it because you had a warped plan to explain your increased back pain following a fall in your intoxication.”