Blackburn woman who set fire to her own flat before sticking her head in the flames is jailed

Police were called to Lisa Hartley's home in St Mary's Close, Blackburn, and spotted the 'dazed' woman wandering around inside the property.

They had to force entry when they saw her sticking her face into the flames.

At a hearing in Preston, prosecutor Wayne Jackson said on June 21 2020, police attended Hartley's flat and tried to gain access but were unable to.

They returned a few hours later, which is when they spotted smoke coming from the property.

They forced entry by smashing a window after seeing Hartley wandering around the inside of the house and sticking her head into the flames of the fire.

Mr Jackson said that as the officers entered the property, Hartley said to them, 'why have you smashed my window', and appeared to be doing nothing to prevent the fire from spreading.

Two fire crews arrived and managed to extinguish the flames, but there was significant smoke damage caused to the interior of the flat.

Hartley was arrested on suspicion of arson but denied starting the fire deliberately and said she had taken some diazepam, and it must've happened by accident when she started cooking.

Hartley, 40, was charged and pleaded not guilty to the offence. She later changed her plea to guilty, despite maintaining she couldn't remember starting the fire.

Defending Hartley, who appeared via videolink from HMP Styal, Anna Chestnutt said her client suffered with schizophrenia for which she was prescribed medication.

She said: "She was not coping well with her illness and was self-medicating with diazepam and that was combined with drinking.

"She offers no explanation as to why the fire started. She does not have a recollection of starting the fire but knows it must have been herself who set it.

"She was in a daze, wandering around her apartment, putting her face in the flames, which the attending officers saw.

"She had also been decorating her flat with her mother, and realises that in setting the fire she had destroyed all that work."

Recorder John Richard Jones QC said that in committing the offence of arson, Hartley had put her own life in danger.

He said: "Having set the fire you did nothing to put it out, but walked up to it and put your face into it.

"Police forced entry to the premise and did so for your safety.

"This was not only committed under the influence of drugs but was likely caused by the fact you were under the influence of drugs."

Hartley, who has eight convictions for 15 offences, including robbery, battery and matters of dishonesty, was jailed for 12 months.

She was also handed an 18-month prison sentence, to run consecutively to the arson sentence, for an unconnected, separate offence of witness intimidation, committed in January, taking her total custodial sentence to one of 30 months.