His friend had a minor grudge with her neighbour... his act of revenge was devastating

A man who set fire to a mum’s house in ‘revenge’ for his friend later told his pal: “You’ll never guess what I’ve done!”

After learning that his friend had a ‘minor hostility’ towards the woman, Phillip Humphrey, 41, went round to the woman’s home in Rochdale and smashed a number of her windows. He left and returned again, causing damage before entering the house and disturbing the property inside.

He left again and returned for a third time armed with a lighter, and set the house ablaze. Neighbours were forced to flee, with ten homes in total being evacuated in the early hours of the morning in November last year.

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Humphrey, of Rochdale, later pleaded guilty to arson and criminal damage and was jailed for five years.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Humphrey’s friend had contacted the police in 2023 to make a complaint about the woman. Their homes backed onto each other, and their children would play together.

“The complaint went nowhere, but at some point the defendant became aware of her [his friend's] complaint,” prosecutor Laura Broome said.

On November 16 last year, Humphrey, his friend, and others were drinking in Rochdale town centre before going back to her house. Conversation moved to the woman who lived across from them before Humphrey left, stating he was meeting his nephew.

“The defendant was seen on CCTV to arrive outside [the victim’s] house on Oldham Road at 12.45am with another male before they started throwing objects at the house,” Ms Groome said. The victim and her children were at home at the time, she added.

“She heard banging and heard her windows being smashed, grabbed her children and