A MAN torched his ex-girlfriend’s house after she spurned his advances after they shared a night together.

Morgan Bullows’ ex girlfriend had allowed him to stay over at her house in Tonge Moor Road.

They shared a bed together, but the next morning after she refused to let him hug her and he became angry.

He caused £60,000 of damage by deliberately setting fire to the house and has been sentenced to four years in jail.

Bullows, 26, of Gainsborough Drive, Rochdale, appeared for sentence at Bolton Crown Court by video link after pleading guilty to aggravated arson and assault charges.

Prosecutor, Katie Jones said Bullows, who is originally from Harrogate, had taken umbrage after his girlfriend ended their relationship. 

But she allowed him to stay over at the rented terraced property on Tonge Moor Road on April 9.

But the next morning she rebuffed his attempts to hug her and he became angry.
He destroyed her iPhone and her television and threw objects across the bedroom before grabbing her around the neck, after which he started to pack his bag, said Ms Jones.

His girlfriend left him at the property but emergency services, including fire and police, were called after smoke was seen coming from the property.

The flames, which destroyed most the downstairs of the house, were eventually extinguished by firefighters, which Bullows initially denied causing deliberately.

Ms Jones said an L shaped sofa had suffered severe damage, as had the surrounding rooms.

She said: “The investigation concluded that the fire was as a result of the deliberate introduction of a naked flame and there had been the potential for it to spread to adjoining properties without the ‘timely intervention’ by firefighters’.”

Bullows had claimed to police that he had set fire to his girlfriend’s tarot cards which he then dropped on the floor and left the house.

“This was disputed by the fire inspector who said it was not possible for the fire to spread in the way that it had and the burning cards, which had been lit were instead left on the sofa.” 

Sentencing Bullows, Judge Timothy Stead said: “I have to take account of the degree of the recklessness where you abandoned the property knowing it was part of a terrace, which would put other people’s lives at risk not just from the fire but also from the smoke.

“The degree of endangering life was high and the culpability is significant.”