A Hull mum set her own house on fire after penning a bizarre note about Game of Thrones.
Samantha Burns, 32, had written the note, which was a phrase from the hit TV show commanding dragons to set things alight, before setting fire to her own house.
The phrase used by Daenerys Targaryen in the popular show is ‘Dracarys’, however, the court was not told the exact word written by the defendant.
Burns, of no fixed abode, was at the time living in Kestrel Avenue and had been seen by neighbours behaving oddly, arguing with herself and waving a hammer around in her garden.
Hull Crown Court heard on Thursday the mum-of-three was struggling to cope after being banned from seeing her children.
Prosecutor Soheil Khan told the court: “The most recent incident, around five weeks earlier she smashed her own landing window and threw an object from it.
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“When asked about it, she said someone had done it and spoke about being threatened by gangs and told her house would be blown up.”
The court heard that on August 8 last year, Burns’ next door neighbour was told by another that her home was on fire.
“When she went to look she could see smoke billowing from the landing window.
Mr Khan said: “At the time, a PC responded to a call about a woman attending the home of two foster carers to make contact with her three children.
“He went and saw her [Burns] on her bike. She was not allowed contact with the children.
(Image: Katie Pugh)
“They arrested her and noticed black marks on her hands similar to what is seen when someone has been handling coal.”
The view was formed that Burns had set fire to items in her airing cupboard. She later pleaded guilty to arson while being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Mr Khan said a letter was found at her house relating to a command used in Game of Thrones to order a dragon to use fire.
Burns at first denied what she had done, telling police that the fire was started by her neighbours. She said the black marks on her hands were from a fountain pen and marks on her trainers were from a bonfire she had set on another day.
Around £3,000 worth of damage was caused to Burns’ house and over £5,000 to her neighbour’s property.
The neighbour told how her insurance would only pay out for £4,000 so she had had to find £1,500 to repair smoke damage to her home.
The woman, who has lived in her home for 18 years, told the court: “The walls [between the houses] are only thin and it wouldn’t take much for mine to catch fire. If this was the case it would have had a massive impact on my family’s life.
“Me and my son could have been seriously injured. The smoke inhalation has affected my asthma and this incident has affected my anxiety. I’m very scared and worried about who I’m living next door to.”
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Mitigating, Nigel Clive told the court Burns had been physically abused as a child and that continued into her adult relationships, prompting psychological issues to rise to the surface.
Mr Clive said: “She has a tendency to draw attention to herself at times of significant distress. The psychologist says this offence is an example of that. It was a rather dangerous cry for help which she hopes to receive.”
Judge Mark Bury jailed Burns for two years and eight months and told her: “You have suffered psychologically for a long time.
“That is not your fault but has led you to suffer psychological fragility throughout your life.
“The problem that arises from that is that you don’t know cope with events in your life. As the psychologist says it is maladaptive coping, causing you to behave worryingly, and in this case, dangerously.
“You are now homeless and in this position and it is simply not safe to let you out in the community at the moment because you don’t have any coping mechanisms.
“If you are distressed you will be if you don’t have anywhere to live and you will do things you shouldn’t do and are likely to harm yourself and others.”
