She's not having the house.
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:12 am
A father of five who was facing a bitter divorce battle has been jailed for eight years after ramming a car into his matrimonial home, setting it on fire and declaring: ‘She's not having the house’.
Andrew McGarry, 37, who ploughed his car into his £120,000 end-terraced house, wanted to avoid estranged wife Heather, 27, getting the property after the breakdown of their six-year marriage.
As onlookers looked in in horror McGarry got out of the blazing vehicle before saying: ‘I couldn't have hoped for it to go any better. She's not having the house.’
But he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after it emerged his wife and the couple's three children were in fact inside the house at the time.
Their six-year-old son was in the front living room watching TV when the car ploughed into the house, but although the lounge window caught fire no-one was injured.
Mrs McGarry managed to usher the children out of the back door. At Bolton Crown Court, her husband admitted arson with the intent to endanger life and was jailed for eight years.
Caught on camera: At 7pm on July 24 last year, Andrew McGarry ploughed the family Zafira into the house
McGarry - who said he had intended to kill himself - carried out his kamikaze style motoring mission after leading a public campaign for better road safety in the area.