Burnley man set fire to own house in order to kill himself

Lee Taylor was in the grip of heroin and cocaine addiction when he made the decision to barricade himself into the bedroom of the house he rented in Brennand Street, Burnley, on August 25, and set it on fire.

Preston Crown Court heard Taylor, 53, had been out for a walk that evening with his dog, and at around 8pm, after picking up his methadone prescription, dropped the dog off at a friend’s house.

He then went home, consumed a huge amount of drugs and lager, before locking himself in his bedroom and piling up numerous items behind the door.

He then doused the items in a flammable liquid and set them on fire.

Lee Taylor (Image: Lancs Police)

Prosecuting, Lisa Worsley told the court: “Around 10pm on August 25, a Mr Khan was walking along Brennand Street when he saw smoke coming from a bedroom window.

“He thought he could see some items piled up near the window and a man screaming ‘help, call the fire service’.

“Other people then began to gather on the street and doors were knocked on to get people to leave their homes.”

The fire service arrived within 10 minutes and paramedics were also called.

Ms Worsley said firefighters had to force open the front door to the property and they encountered a pile of items behind the bedroom door, before extinguishing the fire and pulling Taylor out of the bedroom after finding him unconscious on the floor.

She went on: “Paramedics asked the defendant some questions and he said he did it to himself and began calling the fire crews and paramedics names, as he told them he had wanted to kill himself.

“He also told them he’s taken cocaine and heroin.

“He was arrested and cautioned and said ‘the only person whose life I was endangering was mine’.”

Taylor admitted to pouring an accelerant on the items behind the bedroom door, with the damage to the property costing in the region of £2,600.

Holly Nelson, offering mitigation, said Taylor found himself in a “worrying set of circumstances, and was very fortunate, as were his neighbours, that no-one was hurt, and no further damage was caused”.

She said he was in a low place but should have considered his neighbours’ welfare, but he didn’t.

Taylor, who has a long history of class A drug addiction, has 20 convictions for 48 offences – many of which are for dishonesty and date back to the early 2000s.

Judge Philip Parry said: “You didn’t want the emergency services to come in and rescue you. You had clearly thought this through.

“But in doing what you did you put at risk the lives of your neighbours. The fire could easily have spread to other properties.

“I do however accept you are genuinely remorseful for the fear you instilled in your neighbours.”

Taylor pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and was jailed for three years and eight months.