A WREXHAM man who was delusional barricaded himself in a house and started a fire.
Mark Hayden Samuels, 26, then jumped out of a window and approached police officers in the garden with a knife.
He was tazered and arrested – and smoke then began billowing from the property.
Mold Crown Court heard yesterday how damage to the council house in Bennion’s Road, Wrexham, was estimated at between £10,000 and £15,000.
Police had earlier been called because Samuels had been seeing things, was hallucinating, and approached his parents with a knife.
It turned out Samuels had been taking cocaine and amphetamine and that triggered off a psychotic episode.
Samuels admitted affray and arson, being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, following the fire in August. He was jailed for 32 months.
The court heard how Samuels had not been in a happy place. He was now on medication and much better, and wished to apologise to his family and neighbours who had been evacuated from the terrace when the incident occurred.
Prosecutor Brett Williamson said Samuels had taken cocaine and amphetamine while celebrating his sister’s birthday and his behaviour when he returned home in the early hours caused his parents great concern.
He was talking to himself, hallucinating, believed there were creatures on him and asked if his skin was purple.
Samuels continued to behave in a strange way and the following day he was taken to see his GP.
He was advised to go to hospital but on the way he kept saying things were crawling all over him and was trying to brush them off.
Back home his paranoia appeared worse, he said the doctor had been laughing at him, got a knife, and said “I will show you what is going on.”
His mother left the house, his father then ran out of the house and tried to hold the door closed behind him, and went next door to raise the alarm.
The mother who was holding children, was approached by Samuels with a knife.
Samuels then went inside, barricaded the door, started a fire in the hallway and a film taken from a police helicopter showed him jump out of a downstairs window and approach police in the garden with a knife.
He was tazered and arrested then fire fighters tackled the blaze, which caused significant damage.
Owen Edwards, defending, said it was clear from a psychiatric
report that Samuels suffered a psychotic episode.
“For the sake of the record, there was no threat to kill anyone other than himself,” Mr Edwards said.
He pleaded guilty to arson on the basis he had been reckless as to the safety of firefighters and neighbours in the terrace.
Samuels had problems which would affect him for the rest of his life but it was clear he was now on medication and was stable.
Events in his life had come to a head and the effect of the drugs was perhaps the trigger for events that day.
He was seeing things and acted out of character while he suffered some kind of breakdown. His family were supporting him fully.
The house was still being repaired and the family hoped to return by Christmas.
Judge Rhys Rowlands said Samuels would take cannabis regularly, took cocaine and ecstasy when younger, and would often drink more than 10 pints.
The judge said he took into account Samuels’ guilty pleas and testimonials which showed an entirely different side to his character.