A thug who was caught on doorbell footage attacking his ex-girlfriend’s home returned just hours after being released by police to burn it down as she slept in a fire that killed her dog.
Adrian West, 61, had subjected Louise Simpson, 53, to a campaign of violent attacks last year which saw him strangle and physically abuse her, before she eventually kicked him out of her house in Crawley, Sussex, on September 13.
Furious that Ms Simpson had ended the relationship, West returned to the property later that day and smashed her doorbell camera with a rock – an incident which was caught on the device and saw him spend the night behind bars.
But after being released the following day without charge, West returned and set her porch ablaze before the flames quickly engulfed the entire house.
Ms Simpson, who was sleeping at the time, was awoken by neighbours and scrambled to escape as her bedroom filled with plumes of black smoke.
Her beloved British Bulldog Peggy was frozen in terror under the bed and Ms Simpson, unable to lift her, was forced to abandon her dog in order to save her own life.
West has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to arson and a string of assaults on Ms Simpson, who has now revealed she warned officers that West would return to continue tormenting her if he was released after the first attack.
Adrian West (above) had subjected Louise Simpson to a campaign of violent attacks last year which saw him strangle and physically abuse her, before she eventually kicked him out of her house last September
Furious that Ms Simpson (above) had ended the relationship, West returned to the property later that day and smashed her doorbell camera with a rock – an incident which was caught on the device and saw him spend the night behind bars
But after being released the following day without charge, West returned and set her porch ablaze before the flames quickly engulfed the entire house (aftermath of the fire pictured)
Recalling the first arrest, she said: ‘The police came out and arrested him. I was sobbing, saying ‘Whatever happens, I just don’t want him to be able to come near me again’.
‘So he was kept in custody overnight. They called me the next morning and said that he was going to be released with no further action.
‘I said ‘Well, what do I do? He’s going to come back.’ And they said they can’t do anything unless he does something more.
‘They genuinely seemed to be more worried about how abusive he’d been to the arresting officers the day before.’
West was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and held overnight at a local police station.
But Ms Simpson said she was told police could not take further action because she had not signed the witness statement she had provided.
Fearing that West would return to her house the following day, she blocked the front door with a toolbox and stockpiled food for a few days.
But during one of her moments of rest, the ‘shattered’ Ms Simpson had finally dozed off for a nap before waking up at 3.16pm to the sound of her neighbours raising the alarm that her house was alight.
She said she ‘desperately tried’ to move Peggy as she tried to catch her breath, but that her pet would not move out of fear.
West could be seen in the doorbell footage captured on September 13, 2024, grabbing a rock which he then launched at the camera
He would return a day later to set the house ablaze in an arson attack which killed Ms Simpson’s dog
The effects of the fire can be seen in this harrowing before and after image of Ms Simpson’s staircase
Ms Simpson’s bathroom was completely burnt in the blaze
During the fire, Ms Simpson’s beloved British Bulldog Peggy (above) was frozen in terror under the bed as the fire ravaged the property – she was pronounced dead in the property by firefighters
She said: ‘If she decided she wasn’t going to move, you could not move her. I was desperately trying, but I couldn’t breathe, so I ran down the stairs.
‘I pulled the toolbox out the way and ran the door, and I thought ‘somebody will help me’, because I obviously wasn’t realising quite how bad it was at that point.
‘I ran back upstairs, and I said: ‘I’ve got to get Peggy. Please help me get Peggy.’ But my neighbours said ‘You’ve got to get out’.
‘I was trying to cover my mouth with my hands and putting my T-shirt over my mouth but because the smoke was so thick I couldn’t breathe.’
Firefighters rescued Peggy from the house but were unable to resuscitate her, and forensics later told Ms Simpson they believe West used white spirit as an accelerant.
Ms Simpson moved in with her son Connor, 28, after the fire and said: ‘For about four or five days, I couldn’t eat. I just laid on the sofa. I didn’t wash, didn’t brush my teeth. I was just crying non-stop. I couldn’t move off the sofa. I couldn’t take it all in.’
She now stays between Connor’s house and a friend’s in nearby Crawley.
The council offered her alternative accommodation but she wants to move back into her house once it is repaired, which will take around a year.
Forensics later told Ms Simpson they believe West used white spirit as an accelerant
Ms Simpson said: ‘For about four or five days, I couldn’t eat. I just laid on the sofa. I didn’t wash, didn’t brush my teeth. I was just crying non-stop. I couldn’t move off the sofa. I couldn’t take it all in’
She said: ‘I’ve lived in that home for 28 years. I raised my son there. I’ve got good memories there as well.’
Her possessions suffered fire, smoke and water damage.
Ms Simpson lost personal photos, her mum’s ashes, a hairbrush which had her mum’s hair still in it, an elephant made for her by her daughter-in-law out of her mum’s clothes and Connor’s baby clothes she was saving for her grandchildren.
West, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court to arson with intent, criminal damage, non-fatal strangulation, common assault and two counts of actual bodily harm on May 2.
He was sentenced to six years and three months in jail.
Addressing West in court, Ms Simpson said: ‘No sentence will ever undo what you have done. No justice will ever bring back my home, my memories, or my beautiful Peggy.
‘No punishment will ever restore the life I had before you destroyed it. I will never get back what you took from me. That is a fact both you and I will have to live with for the rest of our lives.
‘You will serve your sentence and one day walk free. I will never be free of what you did. And that is the life sentence you have given me.’
Ms Simpson is distraught that Peggy’s death was not considered in the sentencing and is now campaigning for a change in law to consider companion animals as sentient beings rather than property as they are currently seen.
The council offered her alternative accommodation but she wants to move back into her house once it is repaired, which will take around a year (Pictured: scaffolding outside the property)
Ms Simpson lost personal photos, her mum’s ashes, a hairbrush which had her mum’s hair still in it, an elephant made for her by her daughter-in-law out of her mum’s clothes and Connor’s baby clothes she was saving for her grandchildren
Ms Simpson said: ‘I’ve lived in that home for 28 years. I raised my son there. I’ve got good memories there as well’
Ms Simpson is distraught that Peggy’s death was not considered in the sentencing and is now campaigning for a change in law to consider companion animals as sentient beings rather than property
She said: ‘Peggy’s life was given as much value as a bookcase.
‘She was my absolute world. What I used to go through with him, she was the one constant that was there by my side; my best friend.’
The Ministry of Justice says it has no plans to change the law.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: ‘West was arrested on September 13, 2024, on suspicion of criminal damage and spent the night in custody. He was released without charge as the victim did not wish to sign a statement at the time.’
