Revenge Attack Turns Into Devastating Blaze
A woman who set fire to her ex-boyfriend’s home, sparking a blaze that tore through neighbouring houses and left two elderly residents homeless, has been jailed. Stacey Hinks, 34, admitted deliberately starting the fire at her former partner’s terraced house on Springfield Grove in Boroughbridge. The flames quickly spread, engulfing three properties and destroying everything inside.
York Crown Court heard that one of the adjoining homes belonged to a 90-year-old woman who was asleep when the fire took hold. Another neighbour, aged 89, managed to flee after being alerted by residents banging on her door. Both women lost their homes, their possessions and decades of treasured memories.
‘You Will Never Understand The Harm’
In a statement read to the court, the 90-year-old victim described the impact the fire had on her life. “You will never understand the harm that you have done to me,” she told Hinks. “Mentally, physically, financially and emotionally. I hope that you can sleep on a night, because I certainly can’t.”
The elderly woman said she lost sentimental items belonging to her late husband and had been forced to move away from her community to live with relatives. “I will think about this for the rest of my life,” she said quietly.
Fire That Changed Everything
The court was told that on the evening of 15 May, Hinks set fire to her ex-boyfriend’s home before phoning him to admit what she had done. At first, he thought she was joking, but soon began receiving calls from friends and family checking if he was safe. By then, the house he once lived in had been reduced to a shell.
Everything he owned, including personal photographs and keepsakes, was destroyed. In his own statement, he said the experience had left him “struggling every day since,” describing the loss as “total.”
Neighbours’ Lives In Ruins
The second victim, aged 89, said she escaped her burning bungalow with only the clothes she was wearing. “Since you burnt my bungalow down, I have lost everything that I own,” she said. “I have lost mementos to my late husband and son; all of my memories and belongings are gone.”
Firefighters worked for hours to bring the blaze under control, but by the time it was extinguished, three families had lost their homes. Investigators confirmed the fire started inside Hinks’s former partner’s property and spread rapidly through the adjoining roofs.
Sentence Handed Down
Hinks pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. On Monday, she was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison. The court heard she showed little emotion as the judge outlined the suffering she had caused.
Detective Constable Karen Everitt, who led the investigation, said after sentencing: “Hinks’s actions devastated the lives of three innocent people. Her ex-partner and his neighbours lost everything – their homes, their belongings and precious memories. The emotional toll has been immense.”
For those who lived through that night, the scars left by the flames may fade slowly, but the memories of what was lost will remain for a lifetime.
