A drug dealer who attempted to set fire to a house in Tunbridge Wells has been jailed for almost four years.
Charlie Moon used a lighter to start a fire at an address near Liptraps Lane, where he also made threats to a woman he knew in front of her friends and a child.
Moon, aged 27, went to the property on 6 June 2021 where he set fire to a rug whilst threatening the victim ‘I’m gonna set this place alight with you in it’.
The fire was stamped out by one of the victim’s friends before Moon fled the scene. He was arrested on the following day.
Drugs supply network
Investigations by officers included enquiries into a previous incident just days before on 3 June 2021, when Moon was a passenger in a car stopped by patrols from the Tunbridge Wells Community Policing Team.
The Ford Fiesta had been linked to drugs offences and when Moon was searched quantities of heroin and crack cocaine were located in his wallet along with a customer tick list.
A phone was also seized which contained messages concerning drugs supply.
Moon appeared before Maidstone Crown Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of arson with intent to endanger life as well as two counts of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.
Two further counts of assault and one of criminal damage were ordered by the court to lie on file.
On Friday 20 January 2023, Moon, of Sandhurst Road, Tunbridge Wells was sentenced to three years and seven months’ imprisonment.
He was also made the subject of a five-year restraining order.
Volatile
Detective Sergeant Leanne Carter of the West Kent Vulnerability Investigation Team said: ‘Moon is a persistent offender involved in the street supply of Class A drugs and who has also demonstrated extremely volatile and dangerous behaviour in the presence of several people including a young child.
‘A prison sentence is necessary to protect people from the harm he can potentially cause and one which will also hopefully provide the time for Moon to reflect on his actions and realise that when he is released, he will still be a relatively young man with the opportunity to make positive and meaningful changes in his life’.