WHEN Lewis Colwell was sitting in a police cell after putting a lit firework through a letterbox on Halloween he knew he would pay for his “moment of madness” for a long time.

Three years on, he is getting his life back on track after narrowly escaping jail, but is still burdened by guilt for a prank that gutted a family home and put four lives in danger.

When he was 16, Mr Colwell lit a rocket after his friend Jamie Matthews put it through the letterbox of a house in Ramsay Road, Headington.

The family, with two young children, only managed to escape when the smoke detector went off, shortly before midnight on October 31, 2007.

Last night, Mr Colwell, an aspiring professional footballer, admitted he only realised how bad the fire was when he saw pictures of the blaze in the Oxford Mail.

Both Mr Colwell, a butcher, and Mr Matthews were convicted of reckless arson.

Yesterday, Mr Colwell, now 20, appeared in a video shown to pupils at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, to encourage other teenagers not to make the same mistake.

He said: “It was a big price to pay for something so silly to do. I didn’t think about the consequences one little bit at all. It was a mad moment.

“I expected the firework to go bang inside the house and scare them, wake them up and give them a shock, but it went totally the other way.”

The former Wheatley Park pupil said: “I would like the family to know it was a complete accident, it was never meant to happen and I’m very sorry for what I have done.”

Mr Colwell, of Downside Road, Risinghurst, was given a £5,000 fine at Oxford Crown Court, which he is still paying off, 300 hours community service, and for six months, he had to be home by 9pm.

He said: “It’s had a massive impact on my family. My mum and dad were shocked and upset. They didn’t expect it from me.”

The Witney United player, and former Oxford United Academy player, said: “I just want to get the message across to people not to make the same mistakes.

“I’m not doing it to make amends, I’m doing it because I feel it’s the right thing to do.

“If you think you’re too old to be going out trick or treating, or playing with fireworks, don’t bother, stay at home or go and find something else better to do.”

Firefighter and arson reduction officer Guy Dunkley, who was called to the blaze, said: “It has taken two-and-half years for the family to get their life back together.

“They have a young family that still remember the incident.”

  • Watch the video at youtube.com/user/thamesvalleypoliceuk