A police sergeant and his family had to flee their home after two cars in their driveway were set alight, a Court heard.

Bradford Crown Court was told that 34-year-old Richard Meares held a grudge against the unnamed officer and carried out the arson attack after he had drunk at least 10 pints of beer.

Prosecutor Roger Thomas said Meares, of Oakworth Road, Keighley, had bought firelighters from an all-night petrol station last June and took a taxi to the officer's home in the Oakworth area.

During the early hours he started fires under the sergeant's Fiat car and a company Porsche belonging to his wife.

The officer, his wife and their two daughters aged 16 and nine, were woken at about 1.30am by a neighbour. "Fortunately they were able to get out of the house,'' said Mr Thomas. "The officer's wife described the nine-year-old as being hysterical and screaming for her dad."

Mr Thomas said as the officer tried to get the firelighters under his car the Porsche exploded. Fire from the burning cars had also spread to the house damaging windows and plastic pipework.

Meares, who was arrested shortly after the attack, denied being responsible, but his fingerprints were found on the gate.

Yesterday he was jailed for four years after he admitted three offences of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

His barrister Stephen Wood revealed that a few weeks before the arson attack the officer and his client were involved in an "incident'', now the subject of an official complaint.

Mr Wood said Meares' life had been in a "downward spiral'' since he discovered that his wife was having an affair with his friend and business colleague, Mark Hickman. When Mr Hickman was found dead Meares was questioned about the killing, but later excluded from the police inquiry.

"Not surprisingly in 1997 and 1998 he turned to drink."' said Mr Wood. "At the time of this offence he was really considerably intoxicated."

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