Some background… this is based on a real event last week. We have an eccentric lady who lives in the next street in a small two-up-two-down terrace. She’s the local Crazy Cat Lady - unusual dress-sense, loads of cats in the house, rants at the neighbours now and again etc. Last year when the gypsy horse fair was in town she bought a pony and kept it in her kitchen until the RSPCA got involved.
Sadly underlying the eccentricity is mental illness made worse by alcoholism, but she’s high-functioning enough that she can’t be sectioned and her anti-social behaviour doesn’t quite cross into illegal territory.
Anyway, last week she set fire to her living room at 5am… being a terrace the smoke and flames quickly spread towards neighbours’ homes, but the local volunteer fire fighters managed to get on scene quickly and put the fire out. Fortunately no-one was killed, although I think 3-4 cats perished, and although there was a lot of smoke damage none of the other homes burned down.
Reports are now that she’s been put on remand pending a trial, but I couldn’t work out what the charge might be. As far as I know it’s not a crime to destroy your own home - there are often articles in the Daily Mail about disgruntled husbands who knock down their house rather than give it to their ex-wife - but there must be something about putting people’s lives in danger like this?
Attempted manslaughter seems a bit of a stretch, it’s not arson or criminal damage if it’s your own home (although not sure if that’s the case with a mortgage?), and I don’t recall a charge of “reckless endangerment” or similar. I would assume the fact it’s a terraced property, so shares walls and roof-space with other homes, might put it in a different light to a secluded detached property.
This thread talks about the US view, but presume in the UK we do things differently.