{"id":151773,"date":"2020-11-16T09:38:55","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T09:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=151773"},"modified":"2020-12-05T15:11:53","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T15:11:53","slug":"bitter-wife-torched-400000-family-home-to-spite-husband-during-divorce-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/bitter-wife-torched-400000-family-home-to-spite-husband-during-divorce-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitter wife torched \u00a3400,000 family home to spite husband during divorce battle"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\"Janette<\/div>
Janette Higginson torched her \u00a3400,000 family home to spite her husband of 27 years after they became embroiled in an acrimonious divorce (Picture: Cavendish Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An embittered wife who torched her \u00a3400,000 family home to spite her husband during a divorce has been jailed for almost three years.<\/p>\n

Mum-of-three Janette Higginson, 57, rang police herself on June 11 to say the suburban house where she had lived for 36 years was on fire.<\/p>\n

Firefighters rushed to the four-bedroom house in Firswood, near Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester, to find her sitting outside covered in soot.<\/p>\n

The court heard she had told police during the fire: \u2018I\u2019m not bothered, I am outside my house it\u2019s burning, it\u2019s up to you.\u2019<\/p>\n

Earlier that day, Higginson had received a solicitor\u2019s letter thought to be regarding the sale of the home, which she had shared with Steve, her husband of 27 years.<\/p>\n

It is thought that she started the fire using a lighter and a tin of furniture polish before making a failed attempt to douse the flames with water.<\/p>\n

The fire ultimately caused \u00a314,500 of damage the hallway and front room of the semi-detached house.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Higginson\u2019s immediate neighbours were forced to flee their home but were not injured and their house was not damaged.<\/p>\n

Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard that Higginson had been waging a bitter campaign against her neighbours, builder and in-laws following the collapse of her marriage.<\/p>\n

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\n\"Janette<\/div>
Janette Higginson torched her \u00a3400,000 family home to spite her husband of 27 years after they became embroiled in an acrimonious divorce (Picture: Cavendish Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 57-year-old claimed she had been left out of a family will and made false accusations against relatives, the court was told.<\/p>\n

Higginson admitted to arson and breaching a restraining order and was jailed for 34 months on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Lisa Boocock told the hearing: \u2018The defendant herself rang the police and stated her house was on fire. She said, \u201cI\u2019m not bothered, I am outside my house it\u2019s burning, it\u2019s up to you\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms Boocock said: \u2018It is a semi-detached house and she had lived there for some time with her husband and they were in the process of getting divorced. The defendant accepts it was a deliberate act out of frustration to some extent it was revenge because of the acrimonious divorce she was going through.<\/p>\n

\u2018When the fire brigade attended the fire was in the downstairs front room and two firemen entered the house with breathing apparatus and found the defendant covered in soot sat outside clearly intoxicated.<\/p>\n

\u2018Inside there were two sites of ignition with a lighter and furniture polish nearby but it\u2019s unclear whether that was used in the fire.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\"Janette<\/div>
Janette Higginson torched her \u00a3400,000 family home to spite her husband of 27 years after they became embroiled in an acrimonious divorce (Picture: Cavendish Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018They found damage of about \u00a314,500 caused to the house in the downstairs and front room. There was some damage in the hallway and smoke damage,\u2019 Ms Boocock said, adding that the house seemed to be insured.<\/p>\n

\u2018Mr Higginson is concerned the defendant has done this deliberately so he\u2019s left with nothing.<\/p>\n

\u2018They had a 27-year marriage which was plagued by both of them using alcohol and the defendant continued to abuse it \u2013 and he believes that\u2019s been the cause of this. Mrs Higginson was taken to hospital with burns to her hands and smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n

\u2018She made admissions to starting the fire and having a dispute with her ex-husband and was frustrated couldn\u2019t sell the house.\u2019<\/p>\n

Higginson had already been made the subject of a restraining order after harassing Mr Higginson\u2019s sister Tracey Dunphy following the passing of their father in 2018.<\/p>\n

The court heard that she was angry her estranged husband had not received any inheritance money from his late father and would turn up uninvited at the home of Mrs Dunphy and her husband Michael and start \u2018kicking off\u2019.<\/p>\n

The victims said their house was vandalised with scratch marks and Higginson had also smashed a wine bottle against their front door while shouting abuse at them from the street.<\/p>\n

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Janette Higginson waged a bitter hate campaign against her in-laws Tracey and Michael Dunphy after she and her husband were left out of a family will (Picture: Cavendish Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The court heard that she also harassed a builder who stopped construction work at her house due to her drunken behaviour. It is said she also attended at other addresses where he was working to shout at him.<\/p>\n

At the court hearing, Higginson\u2019s lawyer Emma Hassall offered little mitigation but at an earlier hearing, she said: \u2018She had run a successful business and a family home but she lost her job and as a result turned to alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u2018Her husband has left their home and removed all his belongings. He had stopped paying his part of the mortgage and she has cashed in her pension and made arrangements to pay half the mortgage.<\/p>\n

\u2018She was initially able to keep the house and there was a lot of pressure on her from her husband wanting a divorce and wanting the house selling. There clearly are some issues with anxiety<\/a>, stress and depression but in the main, it has been alcohol issues. They caused the breakdown of this relationship.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sentencing Higginson, Judge John Potter told her: \u2018You are an intelligent woman but your behaviour on the afternoon and evening was nothing more or less than a disgrace. It was inspired throughout by self-indulgence and your continued wish to abuse alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u2018Earlier that day you had received a solicitors letter in relation to your impending divorce from your husband and the content of the letter caused you distress.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not for the first time in your life you decided to resort to consuming large quantities of alcohol to deal with this distress and you well knew it would turn you into a dangerous, destructive, violent, foul-mouthed menace.<\/p>\n