Overview
- Teesside Crown Court sentenced Wayne Loughman, 52, to two years in prison suspended for two years, plus 200 hours of unpaid work, £500 compensation and a five-year restraining order.
- He pleaded guilty to arson after CCTV captured him throwing a lit object over the fence onto Dennis Coles’s gazebo, igniting a fire as the 66-year-old sat in a nearby hot tub.
- Coles, an army veteran, reported flashbacks to a petrol-bomb attack in Northern Ireland and says he remains fearful.
- Loughman claimed he was reacting to noise from the property, a claim the couple dispute, and he left a note saying it was not malicious.
- Defence mitigation described the act as impulsive and alcohol-fuelled, while the long-time neighbours say the outcome does not ease their concerns about safety.