Jail for jilted lover in terrifying attack

A jilted lover who imprisoned his former girlfriend and her friend in his ex-girlfriend's pub before torching the building has been jailed for four years. Carl White, 23, punched and headbutted his former girlfriend Natalie Hutchinson, and Hazel Savage, tied them up and told them they would be burnt or stabbed during the terrifying incident at Coal Clough House in Burnley, Burnley Crown Court heard last week. White set fire to the quilt they were under and threatened them with a knife. After an hour, White freed the pair before setting fire to the 17th century pub ­ using a cigarette, vegetable oil and an aerosol can ­ and causing £500,000 worth of damage. He called the fire brigade and when police arrived at around 5.30am, they found him lying, as if unconscious, on the roof. The court heard that as White was taken to hospital, he said: "I tried to kill her. I tried to burn it down with her in." Wei Lau, prosecuting, said Hutchinson, who lived in a flat above the pub, had earlier told White that their relationship was over and had asked him to move out. She received threatening phone calls around midnight on the evening of the attack in June, so she rang her friend who arrived about 1.30am. White, of Palatine Square, Burnley, admitted arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered, plus two counts of false imprisonment. Rod Priestly, mitigating, said White's mental health began deteriorating a year ago but before this he was a hard-working, stable man who was supportive to his son and his family. Saddam-masked trio in 21 raids Three robbers who wore Saddam Hussein masks carried out 21 armed raids on pubs and other businesses across the south of England and Wales, a court heard last week. The men used guns, knives and baseball bats in the raids, which took place between 30 October and 19 December last year, after buying the masks of the former Iraqi dictator for £10 from a shop in Blackpool. One of the men, 25-year-old Jamie Miell, of Hampshire, was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to rob and 18 of possessing a firearm whilst committing or attempting to commit a robbery, in a trial at Reading Crown Court last week. The other two ­ Mark Davies, 27, of Neath, south Wales, and Garri Collins, 22, of Aldershot ­ had earlier admitted conspiracy to rob and 21 firearm offences. The court heard that police first suspected a link between the raids after CCTV footage revealed that the attackers in five earlier robberies had worn masks of Saddam Hussein. Miell was arrested at his home on 1 December, Davies was arrested at Heston service station on 20 December and three days later, Collins was arrested in Tilehurst, Reading. The men are due to return to the court this week for sentencing. Released prisoner steals worker's phone A man on release from prison for burglary stole a barmaid's mobile phone on his first day working at a pub. Daniel Cox, 22, was also racially abusive to police when he was questioned about the robbery, Leamington Magistrates Court heard on Friday. Mark Lunt, prosecuting, said Cox took the phone from the staff room at the Benjamin Satchwell pub in Leamington on28 May. He was caught after the telephone's owner saw the numbers on her bill. When Cox was arrested, he verbally abused two officers, one racially, and later attempted to block his cell door with a mattress. Jamie Strong, defending, said Cox, who was on release from a 30-month prison sentence for burglary, admitted taking the phone but not from the staff room because he did not know all of the security codes for the door. He said he found it at the bottom of the stairs. Strong added that Cox's remarks towards the Asian officer were made "in the heat of the moment". Cox, of Ashby Court, Leamington, admitted one charge of theft and one of using racially aggravated disorderly behaviour. Sentencing has been adjourned until 16 November.