A WOMAN who drunkenly set fire to a pile of clothes to spite her ex-husband caused £5,000 of damage when the blaze got out of control.

Sandra McGaughey doused the items with white spirit in her garden before the flames spread to nearby tins of paint and reached her semi-detatched house.

The 54-year-old called the fire brigade but the blaze caused extensive smoke damage and destroyed her back door and ground-floor windows.

McGaughey was given a suspended jail sentence at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after admitting arson.

Kevin West, prosecuting, said “difficulties” between McGaughey and her ex-husband led to her setting light to a pile of clothes in the back garden of her home in McKeever Place, Banbury, on June 27.

After failing to get the fire to start, she used white spirit, and the fire accidentally spread to some paint cans nearby.

Mr West added: “She says, and the Crown effectively accept, that she had not considered the danger of the fire spreading to the paint.”

McGaughey’s sister and new partner were evacuated from the house, as firefighters dealt with the blaze.

Mr West said approximately £5,000 of damage was caused.

Terence Woods, defending, said McGaughey, who suffered from depression and an alcohol problem, had been letting her ex-husband stay at the house.

He added: “He clearly took advantage of the fact he could stay at the property.

“Only a few days before, there was an incident where her ex-husband grabbed her by the neck and caused a throttling injury.”

He added: “On this particular day, having been drinking and been upset, she set fire to the belongings because she was frustrated her ex-husband had not moved away as he said he would.

“She looks back on it now as the stupidest thing she has ever done.”

Judge Anthony King questioned the decision to charge McGaughey with arson, as opposed to arson reckless as to whether life is endangered.

He said: “If you have a pile of clothes close to a house and you set fire to it is it not obvious to the meanest intelligence that the fire is going to catch the house?”

He added: “There seems little intention on the part of the defendant to deal with her alcohol problem.”

McGaughey was given a 180-day prison term, suspended for 18 months, along with 18 months’ supervision and a three-month night-time curfew.