A woman who is considered to pose a danger to the public has received an extended prison sentence after admitting shoving lit paper through a house letter box at night.

For no apparent reason, Anne-Marie Griffiths targeted the home of a woman who had previously shown her kindness, as the victim was sleeping upstairs at the property in Jubilee Street, Middlesbrough, on January 29.

Durham Crown Court heard that the woman’s ill son and a friend were also asleep at the address when Griffiths left her premises at the time, further along the street, before approaching the house and lighting various letters and papers, then pushing them through the letter box.

Griffiths alerted no-one and walked away, as smoke started to mount at the targeted address.

(Image: Cleveland Police)

It was only the barking of her dogs and the triggering of smoke alarms which alerted the householder, who went downstairs and found the ground floor filled with black smoke and a big flame inside the door.

She threw the lit papers out of the front door and opened the back door to help clear the smoke.

On examination of CCTV in the street, smoke was emitting from the roof area, while the defendant was seen returning to the house, pretending to have just come across the smoke-logged property, then appearing to be helping out.

She hung around and was arrested after fragments of the ignited papers and letters shoved through the letter box were found to contain her name and address, which was later backed by dna evidence.

Judge Richard Bennett said despite, “overwhelming evidence”, 35-year-old Griffiths, whose address was given as Bramley Parade, Stockton, denied alternative counts of attempted arson with intent to endanger life and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

She appeared from custody for the first day of the trial at Teesside Crown Court in June but chose not to attend the rest of the hearing.

Griffiths was acquitted of the more serious count, but found guilty by the jury, on June 17, of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

(Image: The Northern Echo)

The sentencing hearing, which followed Judge Bennett to Durham, where he is now sitting, was read an impact statement on behalf of the victim.

She said she was left fearful in her own home and is scared to go to sleep, although she received some solace when the fire brigade came to fit her home with a fire-proof letter box.

But she added that she felt it was lucky that the dogs and the smoke alarm alerted her to the build up of smoke and she just got downstairs in time to prevent her couch catching light.

Nicole Horton, for Griffiths, said the defendant was confused by the Probation Service’s comment in the pre-sentence report that they would find it difficult to manage her risk in the community in the short term.

“It seems quite clear the issue will be risk management and the prospect of putting something in place where, if she is released into the community, there is sufficient multi-agency intervention to support her being re-integrated into the community.”

Miss Horton said a psychiatric report assessed from Griffiths’ medical records that she had a “most horrific childhood”, which has contributed to her suffering from emotional unstable personality disorder, exacerbated by learning difficulties.

She said it has resulted in issues with self-harming which begged the question if it represented, “a cry for help”.

Miss Horton said: “I have to concede the risk here was very serious.

“By good fortune there was no actual damage caused other than to the letter box through which the letters were ‘posted’.

“She has been in custody since the date of the incident, almost for eight months, and any sentence will result in further time in custody.”

Miss Horton added that alcohol has been the crutch for the defendant to lean on to manage her issues and an alcohol monitoring tag could be part of the approach to managing her eventual release into the community.

Judge Bennett said the victim remains “perplexed” why a woman, to whom she had shown kindness, had behaved in such a way.

“Understandably this has had an horrific effect on her and she feels fortunate to still be alive.”

He said Griffiths is considered to pose a high risk of causing serious harm.

“This was an attack on a terraced residential property in the early hours of the morning which potentially risked the lives of those in the property and those living either side.”

Judge Bennett said up to 2015 the defendant had a bad record for violence, mostly on staff members in various psychiatric units where she has been at, when she behaved impulsively if something hasn’t gone her way.

He told Griffiths: “I accept you are extremely emotionally vulnerable.

“It’s clear you continue to deny it despite overwhelming evidence and continue to show a lack of victim insight.

“It’s clear you have a complete lack of understanding what could have happened when you set a fire in a public street and a lack of regard to the consequences to others.

“You targeted this property for no apparent reason, placing them in potential peril and your attempts to help them immediately afterwards demonstrate an element of manipulation.”

See more court stories from The Northern Echo by clicking here

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Sentencing her as posing a risk to the public, he imposed a five-year custodial element, of which she must serve at least two-thirds, to be followed by an extended three-year licence period.

A restraining order prohibits Griffiths from contact or approaching the female householder in the target property for an indefinite period.

She is also forbidden from entering Jubilee Street, also indefinitely.