A MAN who torched the home of a woman and her two children has been jailed.

Fabrizio Indovino set alight to the mid-terrace house in Laughton Road, Horsham, shortly after 11am on May 25, 2017.

Fire crews rushed to the scene and found the property well-alight, fighting for several hours to bring the blaze under control - stopping it from spreading to other houses in the street.

The woman and her two children were not in the house when it was set alight, escaping the flames that ripped through their home causing £88,000 worth of damage.

Investigations into the cause of the inferno later found it had started in a first floor bedroom of the property.

Police officers then travelled to the scene and carried out a forensic examination of the room, discovering the blaze had been started deliberately.

Enquiries were launched into the person behind the fire and these led to the arrest of Indovino of Denne Parade in Horsham.

During police interviews, the conniving arsonist denied having been anywhere near the house at the time of the incident, or in the weeks leading up to it.

But, when officers searched the 43-year-old residential care worker’s address, they found a receipt for fuel bought from a Tesco Express petrol station not far from the incinerated family home.

They checked the store’s CCTV footage from the day of the blaze, which clearly showed Indovino filling up a jerry can at the garage before cycling towards Laughton Road just moments before the house was engulfed by flames.

Following the discovery of this evidence, Indovino was charged with arson.

Yet, he continued to plead his innocence for some time.

Eventually, with the case due to go to trial, he changed his plea to guilty.

At Hove Crown Court on March 18, he was sentenced to 43 months in prison.

A further charge of arson with intent to endanger life will lie on file, a Sussex Police spokesman said.

Investigating officer, detective constable Stuart Beckett, said: “This was a mindless act which caused a significant amount of damage to the property, costing tens of thousands of pounds to repair, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

“Thankfully no one was in the house at the time, and the incident was brought under control by the fire service before it could spread any further.”

Richard Bradley, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service’s business fire safety training and quality assurance manager, described how fire crews had assisted in the police investigation which brought Indovino to justice.

He said: “Following this fire in May 2017, our fire investigators worked closely with officers from Sussex Police and carried out a thorough investigation of the property.

“It became clear quite quickly that we were dealing with a case of arson, and we were able to support the police as they built their case.

“This incident had the potential to be significantly worse than it turned out to be, which has been recognised by the severity of the sentence handed down to the defendant.”