A MAN accused of conspiring with his former best friend to burn down his house as part of an insurance scam claimed he was set up.

Fire crews said they had ‘never seen a house fire like it’, after the property in Cumberland Avenue, Clayton-le-Moors, was set ablaze, Burnley Crown Court was told.

And Ryan Ibbitson, 22, who, along with Samuel Todd, 27, is jointly accused of conspiring to commit arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation told the jury his co-defendant 'had set him up'.

The jury had previously heard that on April 15, 2014, fire crews were called to a house fire at 4 Cumberland Avenue. That was the house Todd shared with his girlfriend Natasha Housby.

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A fire investigation found an accelerant had been used and the gas cooker knobs were turned on. The house had to be partially demolished because of the damage.

Prosecutor Judith McCullough said two days before the fire Todd, of Spencer Street, Accrington, contacted police saying there had been a break in. Officers found the gate had been forced open and the intruder had got in through a window before scratching ‘thieving scum. I’m going to burn you down’ into a TV and sticking knives into sofas.

Ibbitson, of Selby Street, Baxenden, told the court he had been 'guarding the house in case the burglar came back' when asked why he was seen 'stalking the house' in the days leading up to the fire.

Ibbitson also claimed that Todd and a second man and on the night of the fire they had planned to find him and 'warn him off'.

On the night of the fire, while he said he was in bed next to his partner Kira, Ibbitson sent her an i-message.

Ibbitson said he had left the phone on charge on the landing.

He accepted his phone had been picked up by a cell mast in Clayton-le-Moors at 1.56am and back at his former home in Colthurst Drive, Clitheroe, at 2.13am. But he said Todd had taken it before putting it back on charge.

He also admitted driving to the scene later that morning with Todd but said he had no idea Todd was responsible. Police later found a bin bag full of clothes in the back of his boot, which an expert witness said had been worn by the people responsible for the fire. When asked how his DNA had got onto one of the items, Ibbitson said it must have happened when he was helping Todd and Natasha move house.

He had no explanation as to how a boot worn by Todd during the fire had got into his car.

When asked by Ms McCullough why he had sent Natasha a text the days before the fire saying “you need to get all your stuff out” of Cumberland Avenue, he said: “I can’t be sure if it was me who sent the text. It was three years ago.”

Ms McCullough added: “There was a plot. But it wasn’t against you. It was a plot with you as one of the central characters. It was a plot between you and Samuel Todd to set fire to 4 Cumberland Avenue.”

Todd has already pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to commit arson but denies being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Ibbitson denies all the charges.

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