A millionaire golf professional who set fire to his £900,000 seafront home to spite his ex-wife after their marriage broke down has avoided jail.
Francis McGuirk told emergency crews: “I didn’t want that bitch to have it all” as they battled the fire at the property in Sandwich, Kent, on June 25 last year.
The 50-year-old, who played in The Open in 2011, co-owned the house with his ex-partner Sarah McGuirk and sent her messages telling her he would “burn the house to the ground” while he was inside.
He then carried out his threat, causing significant damage to the beachfront property and minor injuries to himself in what the court considered a “genuine suicide attempt.”
The father-of-three faced being jailed for what the court heard was an attack driven by “grudge”, the harm that forced his family to leave the house, but on Friday he was given a suspended sentence in Canterbury Crown Court. .
Francis McGuirk set fire to his £900,000 seafront home to spite his ex-wife. Pictured: McGuirk playing during final qualifying for the 149th Open at Prince’s Golf Club in Deal, Kent, in June 2021.
McGuirk, pictured here outside Canterbury Crown Court, told emergency workers at the scene that he had set fire to the house because he “didn’t want that bitch to have everything”.
Prosecutor Caroline Knight told how McGuirk attacked when he learned his wife was not at the house, where his three daughters also lived.
Mrs Knight said: ‘Sarah was at a dinner party on the night of the incident. Knowing that the address would be empty, the defendant entered.
‘He closed the doors before putting the keys into the locks from the inside.
“First he tried to start a fire with some cooking oil, but it didn’t work, so he then set some cushions in the living room on fire with lighter fluid.”
The fire which broke out shortly after 8pm caused extensive damage to the house on Waldershare Avenue, just a stone’s throw from Royal St George’s, where McGuirk made his only appearance in a golf major.
Prosecutor Knight said everything in the living room was destroyed, while smoke “spread throughout the property, covering each room and the contents inside with a layer of oily soot.”
The court heard that during the incident McGuirk sent voice messages to his wife describing what he was doing.
One message read: “I’ll probably throw Dolly (the family dog) out the window in a minute so it’ll be okay.”
A passerby saw the smoke and alerted neighbors, who called 999.
The prosecutor continued: ‘The defendant was outside the house, acting strangely in his opinion and refusing emergency services.
“A private security guard attended and saw the defendant outside the property, apparently attempting to re-enter to rescue the family dog.
‘The defendant admitted to starting the fire with the aim of burning the house to the ground and told the firefighters: “I didn’t want that bitch to have everything.”
Francis McGuirk sent voice messages to his ex-wife telling her what he was doing when he set the house on fire. Pictured: McGuirk at the final round of the English Challenge in Stoke in July 2012.
McGuirk in action during the first round of the Madrid Challenge on the European Challenge Tour at Madrid’s El Encin golf course in April 2013.
Firefighters extinguished the flames and rescued the cavapoo (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Poodle mix) before McGuirk was treated for suspected smoke inhalation and flash burns.
Defense attorney Danny Moore referred to his client’s psychiatric evaluations, which concluded the arson attack began as a serious attempt to end his life.
He said: ‘The authors of the reports view the commission of the crime as a genuine suicide attempt.
“There were other intentions involved in the behavior, but behind this, there is someone who has had serious psychiatric problems.
‘One of the punishments that the accused has suffered as a consequence of this action is that he has not seen his children since the day of this crime.
“Your Honor is aware that the defendant has been a professional golfer and hopes to become one again once this process is completed.”
Moore also noted “glorious” character references and said his client was not a risk to the public, was a low risk of reoffending and essentially had previous good character.
On hearing this mitigation, Recorder Edmund Fowler said: ‘I believe there was an intention to cause very serious harm.
“I don’t think it was simply a consequence of him wanting to kill himself; there are other ways to do it without destroying a family home with fire.”
“It was based on spite; that said, culpability is significantly affected by your mental state at the time.”
“What I gather from the character’s references is that he accepts that what he did was quite shameful and causes real harm to other people, and he has taken responsibility for that.”
Canterbury Crown Court (pictured) was told the incident was a “genuine suicide attempt”.
McGuirk, from Underriver, near Sevenoaks, was a professional at Prince’s Golf Club and was once among the top 700 golfers in the world.
He appeared in the dock in a suit and tie and remained impassive throughout the proceedings, speaking only to confirm his name and the guilty plea to arson he had previously entered in the magistrates’ court.
After a period of deliberation, Recorder Fowler returned to the courtroom to deliver his sentence.
He said: ‘You caused considerable harm and psychological harm to others. You also harmed your own children.
‘Their daughters were forced to leave their home during an already difficult period in their lives.
“This began as a serious attempt to commit suicide and that, in my opinion, reduces his culpability.” And since then she has sought help to improve her mental health and drinking problem.
McGuirk was given a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to pay £13,555 costs.
You will also be required to perform 200 hours of unpaid work in the community, attend 30 sessions of rehabilitation activities and participate in alcohol abstinence monitoring for 120 days.
Recorder Fowler also imposed a five-year restraining order prohibiting McGuirk from contacting his soon-to-be ex-wife, as the former couple was in the process of divorcing.
The recorder added: ‘Mr McGuirk, I make it very clear to you that if you committed any crime in the next two years you would be brought back here and almost certainly would go straight to remand.
“You’ve been very, very close to walking right in.”
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