A Gulf War veteran doused his army uniform in petr
A Gulf War veteran doused his army uniform in petrol and torched his pnds stlg 400,000 house after finding out his sister was his mother, the Old Bailey heard.
Darren Hilliard, 35, burned his matrimonial home to the ground in a fit of depression over his marriage break-up.
The case echoes the Eastenders storyline in which Zoe goes on the run after learning Kat is her real mother.
The court was told how father-of-two Hilliard became depressed after learning his sister was his mother.
When police tracked him down on his mobile phone he was watching TV in a room at the Croydon Hilton.
Officers later found Hilliard foaming at the mouth having swallowed handfuls of painkillers washed down with alcohol in a suicide attempt.
Prosecutor John Traversi said the defendant had written a suicide note to his wife Christine.
The letter was discovered by Hilliard’s mother-in-law on August 11 this year and she called police.
She went up to the house in Farnborough, Kent, calling out to Hilliard and saw a large number of packets of Neurofen on the table.
The next day a neighbour heard a smoke alarm and saw an uncontrollable fire raging in Hilliard’s home with black smoke billowing from the windows.
The blaze completely destroyed his home at (17) Royal Close and spread to two neighbouring homes causing a further pnds stlg 5,000 of damage.
The court was told Hilliard had escaped out the back of the address.
The blaze caused about pnds stlg 5,000 in damage to two neighbouring homes.
Hilliard’s wife Christine of two years was working abroad in Germany at the time of the incident.
Mr Traversi explained that Hilliard had doused his Army uniform in petrol before setting it alight.
The fire quickly engulfed the house and destroyed it.
Hilliard admitted reckless arson on August 12 this year.
Jailing him for three years Judge Paul Focke, QC, told him: ‘The deterioration of your relationship with your second wife was exacerbated with problems with the Child Support Agency over the children from your first marriage.
‘You appear to have for many years, lived a decent and industrious young life.
You have an exemplary army record.
‘But I have to consider my duty to the public at large.
‘
Hilliard, now a recruitment consultant, served at the 47th Regiment of Hampshire’s Royal Battalion for nine years including a stint during the Gulf War rescuing Kurdish refugees.
Defending him barrister Miss Valerie Charbit said he had been under ‘great emotional trauma’ with the beginnings of his marriage break-up.
He had also discovered the woman he thought was his sister all his life was his mother, added Miss Charbit.
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