Man who petrol bombed home jailed for four years
A man who put the lives of a young mother and her two children at risk when he threw a petrol bomb at their home while they were asleep has been jailed for more than four years.
Ryan Miller, 37, admitted starting a fire in Deeping St James, near Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, after being "rebuffed" by the woman three days earlier.
The judge who sentenced Miller on Friday said "it was luck this was not a far greater tragedy".
Miller will have to serve an extended licence period of three years on his release from prison.
Lincoln Crown Court heard the mother was woken by a "bang" at 01:00 BST and saw flames when she looked out of the rear bedroom in Thackers Way, where she was sleeping with her children, aged three and six.
Denney Lau, prosecuting, said: "She immediately gathered her children and took them out the front door.
"When she returned to the property she saw a smashed bottle with a sock inside."
A neighbour called the fire brigade after he saw flames rising above 6ft-high wall. He spoke to Miller at the scene and described his speech as "slurred".
Miller denied arson during his police interview but forensic tests on the bottle matched his DNA and showed petrol had been used as an accelerant.
He later pleaded guilty to a charge of arson while reckless as to whether life was endangered on 16 October 2023.
Barnaby Shaw, in mitigation, said Miller suffered from a brain injury as a result of a road accident in 2021, and prison would make his psychiatric state worse.
Mr Shaw told the court: "[The arson] occurred some 18 months ago. While I can't say there have been no problems [since then], there has been no escalation.
"When he is not drinking he is a man full of ideas, aspirations, hope and humour. He wants to work and set up his own landscape gardening business."
Judge James House KC told Miller that he manufactured a Molotov cocktail and, while drunk, threw it at the rear of his neighbour's home.
"It is fortunate she woke up," Judge House said. "She raised her children, got her dog and left."
Miller was given a restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim and her family.
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