A 23-year-old arsonist from Letchworth has been jailed for 10 years and three months, after pleading guilty to setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's family home.

Giuseppe Mills, of Birds Hill, appeared at St Albans Crown Court for sentencing yesterday, after pleading guilty to arson – reckless as to whether life was endangered - and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Mills, who had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing, was sentenced to 10 years and three months imprisonment.

The court heard that at 2.30am on Friday, May 1, 2020, Mills went to an address in Rundells, Letchworth, and set fire to the back door of the family home of an ex-girlfriend he had briefly had a relationship with in 2018, while she and her parents were asleep upstairs.

He then discharged an imitation firearm towards the property.

Detective Constable Nathalia Smith, from North Herts Local Crime Unit, said: “The fire caused extensive damage to the door and back walls of the house but fortunately no one was injured.

"This was a terrifying ordeal for the young woman and her family and I am pleased to see Mills given a lengthy jail term for this arson attack."