Brightlingsea man jailed for drunken arson offences

Todd Colbourne, of Dean Street, Brightlingsea, was charged with 18 offences, including two counts of arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered, five counts of arson, as well as attempted theft, theft and vehicle interference.

The 32-year-old admitted all offences.

David Baird, prosecuting, told Chelmsford Crown Court the incident began in the early hours of August 16 last year.

Colbourne had been drinking at the Cherry Tree Pub, in Church Road, Brightlingsea, where he left at about 1am.

Jailed - Todd Colbourne (Image: Essex Police)

He made his way to Campernell Close, where he began “trying various car doors to see if they were locked”, eventually stealing scissors from one vehicle belonging to a hairdresser.

Colbourne then walked to Red Barn Road, where he set fire to a transit van on a driveway.

The occupier was awoken and was unable to extinguish the fire, with the prosecution saying the flames “totally engulfed” the vehicle.

Colbourne then went to another address, where the homeowners were away, and set fire to another van.

The occupier of the property next door awoke to smashing glass, and saw the transit van fully alight, with the flames “creeping up the side of the property”.

He also found the alarm to his motorhome alarm was going off with the side door open.

Due to the proximity between the two addresses, “significant damage” was done to both, with one seeing their recently renovated bathroom “destroyed”.

Damage - the burnt out van and fire-damaged property in Brightlingsea (Image: Newsquest)

Colbourne also set fire to tissues and car paperwork of other residents before later being arrested by police the same morning.

A victim statement from one of the residents described Colbourne’s actions as a “rampage of destruction”.

“You left us with the task of putting our home back to rights, which is daunting, exhausting, and time-consuming," they added.

Mitchell Cohen, mitigating, stressed how Colbourne had admitted to the offences to the police and the court and passed on his apologies to those affected.

Addressing the defendant, Recorder Edward Renvoize said: “The abuse of alcohol does not explain why you embarked on this crime spree.”

He also described the “lack of insight” into the reasoning for the attacks as “troubling”.

Colbourne was sentenced to six years imprisonment at Chelmsford Crown Court, half of which is to be served on licence.