'Neighbour from hell' sets fire to electric box as mum and kids beg her to stop

01 October 2023 , 07:36

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Smith is seen lighting the electrical box (Image: Submitted)

This is the shocking moment a "neighbour from hell" can be seen setting fire to an electrical box as a mum with "petrified" children pleaded with her to stop.

Tracey Smith, 52, from Hull, was jailed for three months for arson following the incident on July 1. She terrified her neighbours in the early hours of the morning, when she appeared from her property with a lighter in hand. Witnesses suspected she had just had an argument with a male neighbour, when she came outside "to cause trouble", it is alleged. A mum with young children, who preferred not to be named, said she was woken up to "banging and shouting".

Smith is seen lighting the electrical box (Submitted)

A mum pleaded with her to stop (Submitted)

Although she said she had heard this before, she called the police and decided to stay up for the officers to arrive. She said: "I'm pleased I did stay up because not long after, Tracey came out and started pulling wires out of the electrical box on the side of the property, which is next to the gas box.

"I was suspicious so started recording and she came back out with a lighter and started attempting to set fire to the wires. I shouted at her to stop and she said something about the man upstairs 'not shutting up'. I told her I didn't care, you don't do that, but she continued."

The mum called the police again and fled her house with her children as she was worried the situation would become dangerous. "My children were petrified," she continued, reported HullLive. "The police came 20 minutes later and we were lucky that the wind had blown the fire out but damage was still done to the box. If she had been successful, the gas box next to it could have caught fire and we could have all been blown up. I was pleased she was remanded and passed the video to the police but disappointed she only got three months. She is the neighbour from hell and the neighbourhood doesn't feel safe with her around."

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Smith was arrested on July 1, immediately after the incident, and appeared at Hull Magistrates' Court on Monday, July 3. She was originally charged with arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, but this was later changed to arson. Smith admitted the charged and was jailed for three months at Hull Crown Court on Monday, September 25.

Emily Johnson