Arsonist jailed for setting fire to his flat

A man has been jailed for two years and two months after he set fire to his flat.

John Rowlands started the fire in the bedroom of his ground-floor property in Oswestry in March 2022, police said.

Rowlands, 47, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court last Friday after he had previously pleaded guilty to arson.

Detective Constable Geoff Anslow of West Mercia Police said: "Rowlands' actions were reckless, dangerous and frankly idiotic.

"He deliberately started a fire inside a ground-floor apartment and then walked away, showing absolutely no regard for the safety of other members of the public."

Firefighters were able to control the blaze, which happened at a flat on Unicorn Road, and it did not spread to other flats in the building.

Rowlands, now of Matthew Henry Court in Whitchurch, was arrested at the scene and later convicted of arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.

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