Two men who poured petrol through a window before torching a flat in Wigan have been jailed.
Arsonists Teejay Logsdon, 29, and Bradley Finch, 20, denied starting the blaze but were found guilty of arson after a three week trial at Bolton Crown Court.
The pair attempted to kick in the doors of a flat in Ormskirk Road in Pemberton in the early hours of March 21 last year, police said.
When they failed to get in, Logsdon and Finch went to a nearby petrol station where Finch was caught on CCTV filling up a cannister.
They returned to the flat, and after a row with those inside, poured fuel over the rear door and through a window.
They then set the property alight and ran away.
The occupants managed to escape the inferno without injury, but police said the outcome could have been 'devastating'.
A three week trial at Bolton Crown Court heard how the same cannister seen in the hands of Finch at the petrol station was later recovered from the scene of the blaze.
Despite mounting forensic evidence linking Logsdon and Finch to the crime, the pair denied any involvement.
When police searched Logsdon's phone, they discovered he was involved in heroin and crack cocaine dealing.
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Logsdon, of Whitworth Street, Manchester, and Finch, of Hampden Place, Wigan, were jailed at Bolton Crown Court on Tuesday (May 7).
Logsdon was found guilty of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
He pleaded guilty to theft in relation to offences committed while wanted by police and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.
He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in total.
Finch was also found guilty of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
He was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Detective Constable Pete Jackson of GMP’s Wigan District, said: “By the damage that these two individuals caused, it’s clear they had no care for anyone they may have harmed in committing the crime.
“This was not a crime of passion. It required thought, intent and planning. Something which, with the mounting evidence against them, they had no room to deny.
“With the flat being above a commercial property and close by to other residential properties, the outcome of this could have been absolutely devastating but thankfully, everyone was evacuated safely.”
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