Man's flippant two-word response after he set fire to his home when wife refused 'cuddles'

A man who set to fire to his home when his wife refused 'cuddles' replied 'why not?' when asked why he had started the blaze.

Barry Sarjant, described in court as a 'doting, loving father and grandfather', had been drinking at the pub when he returned home and asked his wife for 'cuddles', the Liverpool Echo reports. But when she declined, the 57-year-old started a fire at the bottom of the stairs in their family home.

He then armed himself with a baseball bat in a bid to stop her from trying to fire out, Liverpool Crown Court heard. When asked by his daughter why he had started the blaze, he flippantly said 'why not?'.

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Sarjant then said 'yeah, but I will get away with it' when he was told the police had been called. His wife escaped the house on Leslie Road in St Helens when she managed to disarm him and strike him over the head.

The court heard yesterday (August 29) how Sarjant and his wife Joanne had been together for around 35 years and have two daughters together, but by late 2023 were in the process of selling their home. Their relationship was said to have 'begun to sour' in the months up to December 28 last year, leading to her ending their marriage.

Michael O'Brien, prosecuting, described how the defendant returned home at around 10pm on that date, having been out drinking. The couple then discussed the sale of the property in an upstairs bedroom before Sarjant 'asked for cuddles'.

The 57-year-old returned downstairs after Mrs Sarjant refused, but she subsequently 'heard a strange noise' and went onto the landing to discover a fire had broken out at the bottom of the stairs. She ran to the kitchen to