A drug boss organised two "revenge" arson attacks at the home of a girl he thought had robbed his niece at knifepoint.
Steven Nicholls, aka EncroChat user CubRing, had a running balance of £1.3m while selling "industrial amounts of cocaine".
He claimed "lad I just want few mil then am done" and bragged of a £106,000 diamond watch he'd buy his partner for Christmas.
Nicholls, 41, of Ibbotsons Lane, Aigburth, was jailed yesterday after admitting plots to supply cocaine and heroin, and to move dirty cash.
He was also sentenced over chats with Encro users "YNWA-LFC" and "BrutalWhale" about how he would "melt" the house of a "scruffy little c***".
Liverpool Crown Court heard Nicholls' niece, aged 15, was allegedly the victim of a "knifepoint robbery" when her bike was taken on Sunday, April 26, 2020.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, said the next day, a "number of males" went to a house in Killarney Road, Old Swan.
He said: "They smashed the front windows, banged on the front door and shouted 'give us the bike back', while threatening one or more of the occupants that if the bike wasn't returned within the hour, they would 'cut your ears off'."
Mr Riding said they also threatened to burn down the house, but when police were called, the woman at the address "declined to endorse a note made in a police officer's notebook".
The secret phone network EncroChat was hacked by the French authorities, who supplied the data to the National Crime Agency and Merseyside Police, last year.
EncroChat conversations revealed that day Nicholls talked to YNWA-LFC and BrutalWhale, and between them they identified who they thought was responsible for the robbery.
Mr Riding said: "It appears from the conversations they believed a particular girl had robbed the bike and that she or her mother had stashed it somewhere."
At 10.32am, Nicholls messaged YNWA-LFC: "Lad shall I get the house burned down? Scruffy little c***."
However, he said it was clear from the chat between Nicholls and YNWA-LFC they were "aware of, if not also involved in" the incident at the house and knew it had been reported to the police.
Mr Riding said: "Fearful that the occupants or the police might have made the connection between him and the incident, YNWA-LFC instructed the defendant not to burn the house down forthwith, but instead to 'leave it a few months' and to 'jib it for now'."
Later that day, Nicholls provided both a description and photo of the alleged robber, during a chat when he said: "She is only 15 lad. Mate I'm gonna melt the house this week. Tramps lad."
Mr Riding said it wasn't clear, but given the way it was phrased, "she is only 15" was probably a reference to Nicholls' niece.
He said once again YNWA-LFC urged Nicholls: "Tell them not to do anything til we say."
Just short of a month later, at 8.20am on May 25, 2020, Nicholls asked another EncroChat user, "SandEgg", "send me that address again lad", who replied with the house number in Killarney Road.
At 11.17pm, the first arson attack took place, when accelerant was poured over the front window in a fire that caused "minor damage".
On May 31, just before midnight, Mr Riding said petrol was poured through the letterbox at the house and damage caused to the front of the property.
Mr Riding said there were no witnesses to either attack and no evidence as to whether anyone was home at the time.
However, he said Nicholls was "apparently eager to burn somebody's house down, as he put it, to 'melt' the house down".
Mr Riding suggested there was a high risk of very serious physical or psychological harm as it was an attempt to set fire to a terraced house, when "inevitably there would be someone living there or thereabouts".
He added: "It was obviously a revenge attack."
The prosecutor said it involved a degree of planning, as Nicholls waited a month before the first attack, then a week before the second, which was more serious, and supplied pictures of the suspected robber,
Nicholls admitted conspiracy to commit arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Richard Pratt, QC, defending, said there weren't any statements from any householder or firefighters who attended the scene.
He said there was "perhaps an element of bravado" in the conversations and the level of damage and harm was "speculative" because the evidence wasn't present.
Mr Pratt said: "The fact is the defendant was extremely upset that his niece was subject to what was a brutal and frightening attack with a knife and having her bicycle stolen.
"That impacted on him in a way that he fully recognises it shouldn't have done, but that was the background to it."
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones jailed Nicholls for 14 years and eight months for his drug and money laundering offences.
Turning to the arson charge, he said: "You were persistent in your attempts to set about setting fire to the house concerned."
The judge said: "You were the first to suggest setting fire to the property and burning it down. You were warned against doing so."
He said Nicholls wanted to "melt" the house down, and whether or not the occupants were present, there was a considerable risk to those in adjoining properties, some of whom "certainly" were at home.
Judge Trevor-Jones agreed there was a significant risk of serious physical or psychological harm, and a significant degree of premeditation, adding: "This was not a kneejerk reaction, this lasted over several weeks."
The judge said: "While only minor harm resulted, that is fortuitous. It could have been a great deal worse."
Judge Trevor-Jones said he would have jailed Nicholls for four years for the attack, but taking into account "totality", reduced this to two years.
However, he said this must be served consecutively to his other sentence, taking the total to 16 years and eight months.
