A MAN who started a fire with a ‘homemade flame-thrower’ tried to escape going to prison by jumping out of a court dock as he was jailed for four years.

Shayne Bott, 29, launched himself over the barriers of the dock at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday as Judge Maria Lamb sentenced him for setting his own house on fire. Bott, of Appleby Close, Banbury, was told he was ‘dangerous’ and posed a risk of ‘serious physical harm’ to others, moments before he tried to escape the court room. He was restrained by two security guards and taken straight down to the cells. He had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of arson and being reckless as to whether life is endangered.

The court heard how Bott started a fire in his own home using a lighter and a can of deodorant while his partner, who had told him the day before she was pregnant, and her 17-year-old son were in the house.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Stone said Bott had been drinking on January 3 and came home ‘looking for an argument’. He added his partner went downstairs where her son’s bedroom was. Mr Stone said Bott’s partner Nicola Temple said the defendant sprayed Lynx deodorant ‘everywhere’ including in her face for about 10 seconds before starting the blaze. The court heard how Ms Temple and her son escaped and Bott had to jump out of an upstairs window after trapping himself behind the flames.

Defending, Peter De Feu said Bott used alcohol to ‘self medicate’ on the anniversary of the date his father committed suicide when he was five.