Swansea man jailed after torching rival's car and homophobic abuse against police officer

A man from Swansea has been jailed after he deliberately set fire to another man’s car.

34-year-old Jamie Paton, from Penlan, committed the arson on November 11, 2024. He later made threats to “petrol bomb” a rival’s address.

Despite efforts to avoid arrest, Paton was found by police in December. He then damaged a police vehicle during his arrest and was convicted of a homophobic public order offence against the arresting officer.

He has been sentenced to 25 months in prison.

PC Lisa Stokes said:

“Jamie Paton is clearly a hot-headed and immature individual who was unwilling to accept the consequences for his own actions.

“No matter whether Jamie had fallen out with other people, there is absolutely no excuse for setting fire to their vehicle – the fire could have spread and affected neighbouring properties, putting completely unrelated members of the public in harm’s way.

“Jamie didn’t care about that – all that mattered to him was his blind rage. He obviously knew he had done wrong, which is why he did all he could to evade arrest until the police caught up with him.”