A woman who set fire to her neighbor’s apartment door has had her sentence extended as a dangerous offender.

Michelle Griffiths had spent the previous hours “rambling and raving” outside the apartment, repeatedly kicking in the door and insulting the woman inside, before using a Zippo lighter to set the door on fire. Swansea Crown Court was told that firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had to enter the smoke-filled duplex and carry the tenant to safety.

The court said Griffiths was a “complex person” whose mental health problems were exacerbated by his abuse of alcohol and illicitly obtained prescription drugs.

Read more: Get the latest court cases in your inbox with our Crime and Punishment newsletter.

Brian Simpson, prosecutor, said that late in the evening of 20 November 2022 and the next morning, neighbors of Geol Calfin’s Griffiths in Ravenhill, Swansea heard her screaming, cursing and kicking the outer door of one of the flats in the block . The court heard that the disturbance lasted for several hours, with the defendant shouting insults at the roommate, calling her a “whore” and “trash” and saying that she had “ruined her life”. Simpson said that at around 2:15 am Griffiths knocked on a neighbor’s door to let her know there was a fire.

The court heard that an attempt was made to shout through the mailbox to the tenant of the affected apartment, but the door was well lit. Shortly afterwards, firefighters arrived at the scene, who, once the fire was extinguished, put on respiratory protection equipment and went up the stairs of the very smoky duplex. They found a woman suffering from smoke inhalation in a bedroom of the residence and moved her to safety. The victim later said that the smoke in her apartment was so thick that she thought she was going to die.

The court heard that when police arrived they found Griffiths, 49, in the street, speaking incoherently and mentioning debts owed to people in Liverpool. He later told officers that he used “netting” and a Zippo lighter to light the door on fire, but didn’t think it would happen the way it did. However, in the following interview, he answered “no comment” to all questions.

In an impactful affidavit read in court, the fire victim said that had it not been for the quick response of the emergency services, he did not believe he would have survived. He said he cried every time he thought about what happened.

Michelle Joan Griffiths, Heol Calfin. Ravenhill, Swansea, previously pleaded guilty to arson for not caring if his life was in danger when he appeared in the dock via a video link to his sentencing. He has four previous convictions for eight crimes, including criminal mischief, assault, racially motivated disorderly conduct, public intoxication and disorderly conduct, and grievous bodily harm.

Andrew Evans of Griffiths said it was clear from past convictions and psychiatric reports that the defendant had struggled with alcohol for most of her life and more recently with over-the-counter drugs. He said his client led a very secluded lifestyle and, compounded by drug use, “small arguments almost inevitably escalated into more serious matters.”

Judge Geraint Walters said Griffiths was seen “screaming and freaking out” outside his victim’s apartment before setting fire to the door. He told her that he had committed a very serious crime and that he was putting people’s lives at risk. The judge said he had read the defendants’ psychiatric and pre-sentencing reports and it was clear that she was a “complex individual” with significant mental health needs, saying Williams’ past history showed she had “a propensity for violence rampant violence,” exacerbated by the use of illegally obtained alcohol and prescription drugs.

Griffiths was sentenced to eight years of extended community protection imprisonment, which includes four years in prison followed by a four-year leave of absence. The defendant must serve two-thirds of her sentence before she can apply for release, but the parole board must determine whether it is safe to release her.

Read more:

  • The burglar broke into the house and kicked, punched and filled the man with a bottle

  • Warring families fought back and forth with hammers, baseball bats, shovels and machetes in a huge brawl in a cemetery.

  • A murderer who punched, punched and kicked a stranger to death outside a bar will spend at least 18 years behind bars

  • A thief who stole £1,000 worth of alcohol and meat from a supermarket on Christmas Eve stood outside the shop with his mobile phone trying to negotiate a buyer for the loot.

  • Children living in ‘miserable’ drug den with heroin found next to their lunch boxes

You can sign up for our regular Crime and Punishment newsletter here, and this interactive tool lets you check the latest crime statistics in your area: