by Man who set fire to mum’s house to ‘revenge’ friend told friend: “You’ll never guess what I’ve done!”
After discovering that his friend had a ‘minor animosity’ towards the woman, Phillip Humphrey, 41, went round to the woman’s house in Rochdale and smashed some of her windows. He left and returned again, causing damage before entering the house and damaging the property inside.
He left again and returned a third time armed with a lighter, and set the house on fire. Neighbors had to flee, and a total of ten houses were evacuated early in the morning in November last year.
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Humphrey, from Rochdale, later pleaded guilty to arson and criminal damage and was jailed for five years.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Humphrey’s friend contacted the police in 2023 to complain about the woman. Their houses went back to each other, and their children would play together.
“The complaint went nowhere, but at some point the defendant became aware of it [his friend’s] complaint,” said prosecutor Laura Broome.
On November 16 last year, Humphrey, his friend, and others had been drinking in Rochdale town center before heading back to her home. The conversation moved to the woman who lived across from them before Humphrey left, saying he was meeting his nephew.
“The defendant saw CCTV to come out [the victim’s] house on Oldham Road at 12.45am with another man before they started throwing objects at the house,” said Miss Groome. The victim and her children were at home at the time, she said.
“She heard clapping and heard her windows being smashed, she grabbed her children and went into the bedroom downstairs. They were afraid to leave and the children were said to be in distress,” said the prosecutor.
Humphrey and the man then left and the woman fled with her children. He returned to his friend’s house, saying he had ‘broken her windows’ and said he wanted to show her.
The two went back to the house at 2.53am, when Humphrey started punching and kicking the door and throwing missiles, while the woman picked up a scooter and launched it at an already broken window.
She has since pleaded guilty to criminal damage and was jailed for four years in January this year.
The two of them then walked in through the front door of the woman’s house and started damaging her belongings including pulling over the fridge.
Humphrey and the woman left and she went to bed and Humphrey returned to the house a third time, but wearing different clothes, the court heard.
“He was seen on CCTV entering the property at 3.45am through the front door five minutes later, smoke started coming from the first floor window,” Ms Groome said.
“Seconds later he left at the front door and climbed over the garden wall.”
‘You’ll never guess what I’ve done’
Neighbors in the adjoining house heard the commotion and at first thought it was a burglary, before they heard a man shouting: “Help, help, fire!”
Smoke then started pouring into their house and they called the police. She was said to have had to wake up her husband and help him because of a knee problem.
The emergency services arrived promptly, and although no one was injured in the fire, the neighbors were left outside their home for several hours.
The house was left with extensive damage, to the point where the fire service was unable to locate the point of origin.
Humphrey returned to his friend’s house and woke her up shouting: “You’ll never guess what I’ve done, Oldham Road is closed… set it on fire… set it on fire!”
He was described as ‘drunk’ and appearing to have ‘some sort of mental breakdown’. The next day his friend confronted him after seeing media reports about the fire, after which he tried to denounce her to the police. He also told officers he was drinking a liter of vodka at the time.
“It made me scared and my children are so scared they can’t sleep,” the victim said in a statement.
“My children still ask why someone wanted to kill us. I don’t want to leave our hotel and I don’t want to go outside – I don’t want to go back to that house. We could have been killed.”
Mitigating, Emma Clarke said: “He says it was the biggest mistake of his life and he doesn’t know what he’s got. He wishes to offer his sincere repentance and bitter sorrow.
“He said that this offense affects him on a daily basis and that he suffers flashes every time he lies down.
“He told me he feels guilty for feeling this way, and if he feels this way he can only imagine how the family feels.”
Ms Clarke said her client struggled with alcohol and substance problems as well as mental health issues following the loss of her brother. She also said he was suffering from undiagnosed ADHD at the time.
Sentencing, Judge Tina Landale told Humphrey: “The background to all of this comes from a minor animosity between your friend and the occupant of the house. That property had been her home for quite some time and she lived there with her two young children.
“To describe the damage done as ‘severe’ is an understatement. Photos show that her house was completely destroyed. The neighbor’s house was also damaged by the fire. This was a revenge attack and many people were put at risk.”
Humphrey, of Birch Road, was jailed for five years and will serve half of it before being released on licence.
‘The fire destroyed the property, rendering it uninhabitable’
After the sentencing, Detective Constable Russ Clarke from Rochdale CID said: “The family who lived in this property lost everything they owned, all their clothes and belongings, including items of sentimental value significant.
“The breaking of the windows and this family present caused them great distress, and the occupant and the children believed that someone was coming in to do them harm. It caused them so much distress that they fixed the house to leave for the night and stay elsewhere in case the people who were responsible returned.
“Humphrey returned twice more, to commit premeditated acts of violence upon premeditated acts of violence designed solely to terrorize the young family.
“Humphrey led the police for more than two months before he was arrested. During his interview, Humphrey denied lighting the fire and tried to implicate others, without accepting any responsibility for his actions. It was only when more evidence was gathered that Humphrey accepted his full involvement and pleaded guilty.
“The impact on this family is immeasurable and this is clear in the victim impact statement read out in court. They remain homeless and have to rebuild their lives again. I hope that Humphrey’s conviction will give them some level of comfort at what is always a very difficult time for them.”
