Arsonist 'mistakenly' torched elderly man's car

An arsonist who set fire to the car of man in his late 80s in what police said was a case of mistaken identity has been jailed.

Peter Vernal, 41, of Fleetwood targeted the vehicle on the driveway of a home in Staining, Lancashire, on 21 July, believing it belonged to someone else.

The elderly owner was woken up at about 22:30 BST by a sudden light through his window, and looked out to find the vehicle ablaze just a meter from his front door.

Vernal, who denied arson with reckless or intent to endanger life, was found guilty at Preston Crown Court and sentenced to nine years in jail and five on licence for what Lancashire Police described as a a "shocking incident".

Vernal torched the vehicle after on Summerville Avenue in Staining, near Blackpool, after buying three litres of petrol and pouring it into a can at a garage near to the M55 junction earlier that day.

Fire services put out the blaze and discovered an improvised, hand-thrown incendiary weapon near the scene.

Vernal was arrested a day later and police learned his intended target lived elsewhere on the street.

Det Con Shannon Nixon, of Lancashire Police, said his actions put "innocent people's lives at risk".

"He set fire to a car which was parked very close to a house where two elderly people were asleep.

"Had the fire not been reported quickly and it had spread; there would have been a risk to life.

"This was a shocking incident for the gentleman who had his car set on fire and while what happened cannot be undone."

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