A WILMSLOW teenager who firebombed his stepdad's home was jailed for three and a half years on Guy Fawkes' day.
Adam Nixon, 19, admitted tossing a Molotov cocktail through an upstairs window of the home of Mark Nixon who was in bed asleep next to his girlfriend at the time.
The couple awakened by the fire alarm narrowly escaped the blaze. At Chester Crown Court, Judge Elgan Edwards described the incident as an "evil attack."
It occurred in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday, May 22, and followed a series of vicious family rows.
Adam's mum, Joanne Nixon, 40, of Benson Walk, Wilmslow, had been married to roofer, Mick, 46 but their relationship ended at the beginning of 2000.
After the blaze Joanne lied to police to provide her son with a false alibi.
She and family friend, William Rushton, 30, both pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. She was given 180 hours community service and he received a seven month jail term.
Merion Lewis-Jones, counsel for the prosecution, said the situation had arisen out of the breakdown of the marriage last year.
He said Mick had done his best to bring Adam and his sister up during the years they were together.
But when the marriage collapsed, and Mick took a new girlfriend, he began receiving nuisance calls from Joanne and Adam, said Mr Lewis-Jones.
A few days before the fire he received a series of calls which ran into the early hours of the morning.
Mick's girlfriend was so concerned about the tone of the calls, the next day she arranged a meeting with police.
But the following night, after the couple had gone to bed, Adam arrived at the Macclesfield home with a petrol bomb made from a milk bottle. He then threw it through the rear bedroom window.
Minutes later the couple who were asleep in the front of the house were awakened by their fire alarm. They found their home full of smoke but managed to escape through a ground floor door.
The damage caused to their home by the fire has been put at £2460. When Adam was arrested later the same day he told police; "I know what this is about. I will fire bomb his house and kill him."
Before the blaze Adam had informed Rushton what he intended to do but his friend wanted nothing to do with it.
However, Rushton of Knutsford, went with him to the scene of the crime and watched him throw the petrol bomb.
He later lied to police claiming he was with Adam in Macclesfield when the attack occurred.
Joanne also made a statement which claimed her son was elsewhere at the time of the blaze, said Mr Lewis-Jones. She was later arrested and admitted her account was false.
Thomas Fitzpatrick, counsel for mother and son, said: "Anyone reading Adam's pre-sentence or psychiatric reports will know a lot of problems emerged from the family unit.
"He was acting under extraordinary pressure which had built up in the home during a period of time."
He said that Adam had since come to terms with the break up, and, although he was a person of limited mental ability he had recently discovered a new found sense of responsibility.
Mr Fitzpatrick said Joanne had been put in an impossible situation because she realised her son could face a lengthy stay in prison.
"She did what any mum would do," he said.
Simon Parry for Rushton said his client had already served three and a half months in prison on remand. He successfully persuaded the judge not to send his client back to jail.
Judge Elgan Edwards told Joanne: "I understand why you did it but it is not to be condoned."
Sentencing Adam for arson and being reckless as to the endangerment of life he said: "When I first read the reports I took the view to make you a long-term prisoner but you have pleaded guilty and are showing remorse."
