Harlow woman jailed for lighting fires in her flat

Diane Wake, 58, said she could not remember lighting the fires

A woman who ordered three bottles of wine before setting fire to her flat has been jailed for 32 months.

Diane Wake, 58, told police she had been drinking "heavily" and did not remember lighting three fires inside the property in Harlow, Essex.

Families were evacuated from the two-storey building on Great Brays shortly after midnight on 17 September 2023.

"This was a really selfish way of you asking for help," Judge Mary Loram KC said.

Wake admitted arson while being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

The defendant set fire to three rooms inside her flat in Great Brays, Harlow

She had called the emergency services after setting fire to three rooms in her flat, having taken a bottle of wine from her place of work and ordered in three more, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

"The defendant was clearly in drink and intoxicated," prosecutor Nicholas Bleaney said.

"There was potential for multiple people to be endangered, including others in the block."

Victim personal statements read to the court detailed how neighbours were concerned about Wake returning to her home.

'Really selfish'

Nick Barraclough, mitigating, said the defendant had no memory of the incident and that she had been "incredibly concerned and remorseful" upon hearing what happened.

He said she had a "degree of a mental disorder" due to incidents in her past.

Judge Loram said she accepted Wake's actions were "made out of unhappiness rather than malice" but stressed "innocent members of the public" were endangered.

"By setting a fire in your flat you ran a very real risk that it would spread. You could so easily be sitting there facing even more serious charges," she said.

"It is a really selfish way to express your misery, to endanger other people."