Husband torches £350,000 home to stop wife getting half in divorce

frostyboy · #1 20th-November-2007

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1770

Quote:

A husband torched his £350,000 matrimonial home to make sure his wife did not get a penny from their impending divorce, a court has heard.

Builder Gary Hooley had previously threatened to "knock the house down brick by brick" during one of several rows he had with his wife Michelle during their stormy one-year marriage.

The couple's detached dormer bungalow, which 50-year-old Hooley had extensively renovated inside, was burned to the ground in an arson attack in February this year.

The court heard the couple had known each other since school before they dated for two years and got married.

But soon after their wedding their relationship broke down.

On the day of the fire, the couple went to a 50th birthday party for one of Mrs Hooley's friends in a pub near their home.

Iain Hillis, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court, Hooley drunk eight or nine pints and had an argument with his wife because she wanted him to mind her handbag while she danced with a friend.

Hooley eventually stormed out saying: "Brick by brick, I'm off."

"That maybe a reference as to what he intended to do to the house," said Mr Hillis.

Mrs Hooley said that after the argument her husband remained "very offhand" and "snappy".

When she told him she could do no right in his eyes he pushed over a table of drinks and said: "I'm out of here."

He told her: "I'm going to have you brick by brick."

Mrs Hooley told the court her husband had previously said during an argument: "I will bulldoze the house down brick by brick."

That night Mrs Hooley stayed with a friend because of the argument with her husband but she was woken by police saying her house was on fire.
The fire started some time after 3am.

She said all her clothes and sentimental items were destroyed in the blaze. The marital bed and bedroom were burned to a cinder.

Her daughter Lauren Hooson and her boyfriend David Whyke who lived in the upstairs half of the house were out at the time.

Two pet dogs were rescued from the blaze.

The court heard that Mrs Hooley owned the house, which was hers from a previous marriage. She insured it and was paying the mortgage.

The couple had a trial four-month separation before Hooley moved back in to the house in Burton Road, Barnsley.

However, Mrs Hooley still wanted a divorce, said Mr Hillis.

Asked about the state of the marriage at the time of the fire, Mrs Hooley said: "I think it was just about on its last legs."

Mr Hillis asked her if she wanted to stay married to Hooley. She replied: "No."

Mr Hillis said: "It maybe he (Hooley) realised his marriage was over and wanted to destroy the house."

Hooley was arrested after police found him asleep in his van. He told officers the fire was nothing to do with him and that he had persuaded a stranger to move his wife's car out of the way and then drive his van away from the house for him.

Ian Storey for the defence, said Mrs Hooley had refused to hand over her husband's property during their trial separation.

Mrs Hooley admitted she had previously promised her husband a £40,000 settlement from the proceeds of selling the house. But she said that after legal advice she was told Hooley's share was not worth that much.
She denied Hooley had made £50,000 of improvements to the house but said his belongings had also been destroyed in the blaze.

Asked if she was convinced he had started the fire she said: "I am, yes."
Mrs Hooley's father, Trevor Carr, told the court the police rang him to say the house was on fire.

He rang Hooley and said: "Do you know your house is on fire?"

Hooley replied: "So what. It's nothing to do with me."

Asked where he was Hooley replied: "I can't tell you that."

Hooley denies arson. The trial continues.

Rebadow · #2 20th-November-2007

Quote:

Mrs Hooley owned the house, which was hers from a previous marriage. She insured it and was paying the mortgage.

OK, I don't get this. The title says HE burned the house, so she wouldn't get half in divorce, but the house was actually already HERS?

That means that he destroyed his half that he would get from her in a divorce, right?

I fail to see teh logic behind it. Or sense, if you will...

Rebadow · #3 20th-November-2007

Also, the title is incorrect - it states that husband torched the house as if it was a fact. But the last sentence in the article says that the trial continues.

Until he's found guilty, this could very well be just a made up accusation, nothing more.

This article is just a bad attempt at journalism.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Half a million lonely old men pay price of the divorce boom..	christianj	Australian Men's News	3	16th-June-2008 04:43 AM
Nearly half of all marriages will end in divorce	frostyboy	Marriage/Divorce, Children, Choice for Men	0	27th-March-2008 04:07 PM
Woman loses fight with her ex-husband to stop IVF embryos being destroyed	frostyboy	General News	0	22nd-March-2008 07:27 PM
Heiress battles to stop penniless Kosovan refugee ex-husband taking half her fortune	Major Tom	General News	69	21st-March-2008 03:09 PM
Penis slashing divorce clause, Divorce given over threats from Wife	Tyrael	Abuse - DV	3	6th-October-2007 06:35 PM

Husband torches £350,000 home to stop wife getting half in divorce

Husband torches £350,000 home to stop wife getting half in divorce

Similar Threads