Man hired by woman to blow up her mother-in-law's car as they feuded because she 'wasn't good enough' for victim's son is jailed for 16 months

The cash-strapped man who took just £150 from a feuding woman to blow up her mother-in-law's car has been jailed for 16 months.

Luke Williams, 25, was enlisted by Alisha Anwar, 29, to torch 54-year-old Christina Place's vehicle outside her Wrexham, North Wales, flat in a twisted revenge attack.

Mold Crown Court heard heard that Anwar orchestrated the petrol-bombing because she felt her mother-in-law thought she wasn't 'good enough' for her son.

Ms Place emerged to find her car ablaze, as flames spread to two other cars and a property which had to be evacuated.

It took two fire crews 90 minutes to bring the inferno under control during the 'terrifying' incident, the court heard. 

A judge today said it 'almost beggared belief' that one night Williams bought petrol from a garage and filled a jerry can with it before targeting the parked vehicle. 

Williams, of Gwenfro, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. He was jailed for 16 months with eight more months, activated from a suspended sentence, to run consecutively.

Prosecutor Oliver King said the defendant Williams and his then partner Morwenna Evans were giving Anwar a lift in June 2022 when she made the proposal.

A judge in Anwar's trial last week was told Ms Place made it clear that she did not like her daughter-in-law - leading to issues between the pair. 

Ms Evans thought it was all 'bravado' and that Williams wouldn't be 'stupid enough' to do it, however, four days later CCTV footage showed Williams visiting a petrol station and filling up a jerry can at 6pm. 

At 12.30am on June 25 he was seen with a carrier bag in an alleyway near Brunel Court. He returned home 15 minutes later without the carrier bag.

Ms Place's car was parked in her communal car park at Brunel Court, Wrexham. She was in her living room at about 1am that night when her dogs started barking, the court heard.

She looked out and saw an 'orange glow' by a fence panel and soon realised her car was on fire. Emergency services were called. The blaze engulfed three cars and a fence.

The heat was so intense it started to melt guttering, fascia boards and window frames of a neighbouring home. Repairs including a new window cost the owner £3,660.

It took firefighters an hour and a half to bring the blazes under control. Later investigators found a bottle of petrol under Ms Place's car, said Mr King.

Mr King said: 'Clearly had that been heated to boiling point by the car fire it could have exploded. Fortunately it did not.'

Mr King said Ms Evans realised her partner was involved and was so worried that she ended their relationship and told police.

Officers found Williams had searched for 'arson punishment UK' online. He also told a friend that he had been 'ratted out' by Ms Evans.

Mr King said the defendant initially denied arson and was only 'out for a jog' that night. 

Myles Wilson, defending, said his client had been homeless for a time and had lived in a tent before he bought a car on credit which he should not have done and got into financial difficulties. 

He became desperate for money and 'stupidly' agreed to get involved in the arson plot, although it hadn't been for a large amount.

Mr Wilson added Williams may have autism and ADHD and does not cope with loud, busy places, saying he wears headphones while working as a car valeter and had been 'dreading' the sentencing hearing.

The judge, His Honour Niclas Parry, told Williams: 'The public will understand the inherent dangerousness of setting fire to a car near dwelling houses. Arson is always a very serious offence.'

He called the facts of this case 'frankly staggering'.

'Unbelievably, you took up an offer to blow up or petrol bomb her car for £150' he said, in circumstances which 'almost beggar belief' and would have been 'terrifying' for residents.

Jailing Williams at a time when crowded prison conditions are 'perhaps the most difficult they have been in two decades', the judge also imposed a two-year restraining order prohibiting the defendant from contacting Ms Place or Ms Evans, or going to Brunel Court.

Last week, Anwar, 29, of The Oval, Pentre Maelor, Wrexham, was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment for the same offence and was handed a similar restraining order.