A woman who organised the firebombing of her mother-in-law’s car after being told she was “not good enough” to marry her son has been jailed. Alisha Anwar, 29, paid a friend £150 to carry out the attack in Wrexham in June 2022 following a dispute with Christine Place, 54, in the run-up to her wedding.
Mold Crown Court heard that Ms Place left her home to find her vehicle engulfed in flames. Neighbours described how the car had exploded and the fire had spread to two other vehicles. The blaze forced some residents to evacuate their homes as firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.
Anwar, from Wrexham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause arson and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. She was also given a two-year restraining order banning her from all contact with her mother-in-law.
Luke Williams, also from Wrexham, who carried out the attack, pleaded guilty to the same offence and will be sentenced next week. The court heard that Williams’ girlfriend reported the pair to police and that CCTV footage showed him filling a petrol jerry can the day before the attack, she said. Daily Mail.
Mark Connor, Anwar’s defence lawyer, told the court: “This was a crime of revenge. For a long time, she was unable to accept what she had done, such was her fear of the consequences despite the weight of the evidence against her. But she eventually made the right decision. She is now capable of making proper, rational decisions.”
Addressing Anwar, Judge Niclas Parry said: “The inherent dangerousness makes any arson a very serious offence. The courts cannot ignore the need to reflect in sentences the serious consequences that can arise from arson. The facts of this case are almost astonishing. This was about revenge and spite in a domestic context.
“You were determined to get revenge on your mother-in-law and offered to pay your co-defendant £150 to make a petrol bomb or blow up the house. You orchestrated this conspiracy and are as responsible for the actions of others in a conspiracy as you are for your own.” The case highlights the serious repercussions of revenge-motivated actions, particularly those involving arson, and underlines the legal system’s commitment to tackling this type of dangerous and malicious behaviour.