A window cleaner has been jailed for a revenge arson attack which killed his former wife's dog.

Geoffrey Ronald Guy, 52, of Baildon Caravan Park, was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

He had pleaded guilty to a charge of arson at an earlier hearing.

The court was told that Guy's relationship with Maureen Gelder, of Bronte Old Road, Thornton, Bradford, broke down last Christmas and they disagreed over the handling of the sale of their house in which she still lived.

Prosecutor, Richard Smith, explained that Guy, who had his own key to stay in the basement when his former partner was away, went to the house on an evening in July.

Mr Smith told the court that Guy had drunk six or seven pints of lager and set fire to his sleeping bag in the basement and left the premises believing the fire was out.

Fire crews put out the blaze and discovered a dog which had died of smoke inhalation in the basement. The cause of the fire was put down to a cigarette until Guy admitted to his wife in a phone call that he had started the fire on purpose.

Richard Gioserano, mitigating, told the court that Guy only intended to set fire to the sleeping bag and leave it as a token of frustration.

Sentencing Guy, Judge Scott Wolstenholme told him: "You were overwhelmed with bitterness because of the wrangling of your relationship breakdown and decided to get revenge and that is inexcusable conduct."

The judge said he had taken into account of Guy's admission of guilt and ordered him to serve half his sentence in prison and the other half if he commits another offence before that time is up.