A JEALOUS man who hurled two homemade ‘petrol bombs’ at the door of a care home in revenge for a suspected affair has been jailed for four years.

The judge today commended the team of police officers who had investigated the early hours arson attack on the Lee Mount care home in Halifax as he locked up Safraz Ahmed.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Ahmed threw two bottles of petrol at the office front door of the premises that was home to 25 residents. A number of staff were also on duty that night.

Judge Jonathan Gibson told him: “What would have happened had the office door taken light and had there been a fire at the care home, of course, one dreads to think.”

Prosecutor Chloe Hudson said that Ahmed suspected his partner, who worked at the care home, was having a relationship with a male colleague.

On the evening before the arson attack, he had confronted his partner outside the care home and made a threat to kill the man.

When the police were contacted he left the area but in the early hours he drove with an associate to the family home of the man in Leeds and after disguising himself with a hoodie he set about smashing a number of windows at the property.

The court heard that he caused damage to the windows and CCTV equipment totalling about £5,000 before driving back to Halifax to attack the care home.

Miss Hudson said Ahmed stopped off at a petrol station and it was just after 2am when he approached the door of the care home, again using the hoodie as a disguise.

“In effect, the defendant had manufactured two makeshift petrol bombs which he threw at the door of the care home intending that it would catch fire in some way,” she said.

The first bounced off the door and quickly went out, but two minutes later Ahmed returned and threw a second bottle. Miss Hudson said it caught light and landed close to the door and a nearby fence.

Luckily there was only minor damage to the door and some scorch marks.

Ahmed, 39, of Parkinson Lane, Halifax, was arrested a few days later but he denied being involved in the attacks and claimed he didn’t even know who the man was.

The court heard that the arson attack had had a significant impact on the man, his family and staff at the home. He had been absolutely devastated by what had happened.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered on June 19 last year, criminal damage on the house in Leeds, and common assault on his then partner.

Barrister Gillian Batts said Ahmed, who was remanded in custody, had expressed remorse in a letter to the judge.

He had been diagnosed with depression following the death of a close friend and he was concerned that his partner had started a relationship with a work colleague, even though she had denied it.

Judge Gibson said Ahmed had become very jealous but the assault, criminal damage and arson were a wholly inappropriate way to deal with that.

“This case resulted out of your feelings of jealousy and revenge because of the relationship you believed was happening with your wife,” he said.

The offences involved significant planning and organisation and there were multiple people potentially endangered.

Judge Gibson imposed an indefinite restraining order which bans Ahmed from contacting any of the complainants in the case or attending at any of the properties involved.

Miss Hudson said the police officers had spent a large amount of time on telecommunications and CCTV work to track down Ahmed. Judge Gibson commended them for their work on the case.