Arsonist set fire to pub as man slept in flat above

Liam Noon, of Costock Avenue, set fire to The Whitemoor pub in Nottingham

A man who set fire to a pub in Nottingham while the owner's partner slept in the flat above it has been jailed.

Liam Noon, 33, became involved in a fight after being asked - alongside his sister and partner - to leave The Whitemoor pub in Nuthall Road, before leaving and returning with a can of petrol on 1 March.

On Thursday, at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC sentenced Noon to six years in custody and four years on extended licence.

Noon, of Costock Avenue in Nottingham, was also given a 10-year restraining order preventing him from contacting the pub owner or his partner, or going to the venue.

The court heard how The Whitemoor pub suffered financially following the fire

The court heard how the pub had been busy on the night 1 March and stopped serving alcohol at 00:30 GMT before later closing.

Noon and his partner remained at the pub with his sister - who worked there - after it closed and continued drinking.

The owner's partner later approached the group and asked them to leave, leading to a fight erupting inside the venue.

After eventually managing to get rid of Noon and his group, the owner locked the doors.

However, the court heard Noon later returned at about 02:20 armed with a weapon which he used to smash four windows at the pub, before once again leaving.

'Scared and fearful'

Noon - who used to be a doorman - returned a second time to The Whitemoor carrying a can of petrol before setting the pub alight.

The court heard the pub owner's partner was left "scared and fearful that he could have died if he had not woken up" to the sounding fire alarm and smell of smoke.

The pub was also badly damaged and suffered financially, the court heard.

Judge Rafferty KC said while Noon was sorry for what he had done, to say he had matured during his time in custody would be "wrong".

"You intended, by setting fire to that building, to harm those people," the judge said. "Not to frighten them, to harm them.

"You did not know what the consequences of that fire would be.

"You were lucky, because if [the owner's partner] had died you would be about to go to prison for life, because this would have then been murder."