A woman who orchestrated the petrol bombing of her mother-in-law’s car after being told she ‘wasn’t good enough’ to marry her son has been jailed. Alisha Anwar, 29, paid a friend £150 to carry out the attack in Wrexham in June 2022 following a dispute with Christine Place, 54, in the lead-up to her wedding.
Mold Crown Court heard that Mrs. Place walked out of her home to find her vehicle engulfed in flames. Neighbors described how the car had exploded, with the fire spreading to two other vehicles. The blaze forced some residents to evacuate their homes while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.
Anwar, from Wrexham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 16 months in jail. Additionally, she received a two-year restraining order, prohibiting any contact with her mother-in-law.
Luke Williams, also from Wrexham, who executed the attack, pleaded guilty to the same offense and is set to be sentenced next week. The court learned that Williams’s girlfriend reported the pair to the police, and CCTV footage showed him filling a petrol can the day before the attack, reported Daily Mail.
Mark Connor, defending Anwar, told the court: “It was a revenge offense. For a long time, she was not able to come to terms with what she had done, such was her fear of the consequences despite the weight of evidence against her. But she eventually made the right decision. She is now able to make proper and rational decisions.”
Judge Niclas Parry addressed Anwar, stating, “The inherent dangerousness makes any arson a very serious offense. The courts can’t ignore the need to reflect in sentences the grave consequences that can flow from fires. The facts of this case are close to being staggering. This was all about revenge and spite in a domestic context.
You were determined to seek vengeance on your mother-in-law and offered to pay your co-defendant £150 to petrol-bomb or blow it up. You orchestrated this conspiracy, and you’re as responsible for the acts of each other in a conspiracy as your own.” The case highlights the severe repercussions of revenge-driven actions, especially those involving fire, and underscores the legal system’s commitment to addressing such dangerous and malicious behavior.