Jail for pair who blamed child for flat fire

Daniel and Charlotte Wollaston were found guilty after a nine-day trial at Chester Crown Court.

A man and woman have been jailed after blaming a child for a major fire one of them started at a tower block.

Police said Daniel and Charlotte Wollaston were among a group of residents gathered outside the building on Laurel Place in Henhull, Nantwich, when 12 flats were evacuated on 14 December.

The pair were with a child who had been at the property with them at the time of the incident, according to Cheshire Police. The force said the Wollastons told officers that the child, who was known to them both, used a lighter to set fire to curtains.

But it was a false account, and a witness reported they heard an exchange in which Ms Wollaston suggested the idea of blaming the girl.

Officers spoke to the child, who initially said she was responsible for the fire before revealing it had been started by Daniel Wollaston, 32.

Further inquiries revealed Charlotte Wollaston, 37, had recently searched on her phone for house swap pages on social media.

'Disrupted lives'

After a nine-day trial the pair, of Goddard Court, Crewe, were found guilty of arson with reckless endangerment to life and perverting the course of justice. They were sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Friday.

For arson, Daniel Wollaston was handed a three-year prison sentence, while Charlotte Wollaston was given two years, with each ordered to serve the same periods on licence thereafter. Ten-month sentences each for the second offence are to run concurrently.

"Daniel and Charlotte have significantly damaged property and disrupted the lives of their neighbours," said Det Con Joseph Scott, who was the lead officer in the case.

"Their actions have endangered the lives of those in their community through the use of an uncontrollable fire and they have expressed no concern or remorse for what they have done."