A man who was being evicted from his Warrington home by his landlords horrifyingly tried to set them on fire using a homemade flamethrower, putting the husband and wife couple in fear of their lives.
Piergiuliano Atzori, formerly of Minerva Close, Latchford, attacked the couple who rented him his flat after fashioning the terrifying “homemade” weapon out of a can of deodorant and a cigarette lighter.
Liverpool Crown Court heard last Friday that one of the victims screamed in fear as a jet of flames came “within inches of her face”.
Joanne Maxwell, prosecuting, said that husband and wife Waldemar and Justyna Fijakowski owned the shared accommodation where the defendant was a tenant.
She told how Mrs Fijakowski called Cheshire police at about 12.30 pm on March 7 this year to report that Atzori had “tried to set her and her husband on fire”, and her partner was still tussling with him in a hallway.
She said that she had been cleaning communal areas of the property when she heard the defendant “shouting her name”. As she approached his bedroom, he “took out a large deodorant can and a lighter, then sprayed the deodorant and used the lighter to ignite the spray”.
Flames were “projected towards her” as a result, leaving her “fearful for her life”. Mrs Fijakowski ran out of the building and dialled 999, at which point Mr Fijakowski went to see what had happened.
Atzori “again used the lighter and deodorant to project fire towards him”, causing him to hide behind the kitchen door. After a short time he partially opened the door again to see if his attacker had left – but Atzori sent another plume of flames through the gap.
Miss Maxwell said that Mr Fijakowski then began grappling with his assailant, punching him several times to the face, taking him to the floor and restraining him with the help of another occupant.
Police arrived and arrested Atzori and found he was in possession of a craft knife.
Mrs Fijakowski told officers that she had received dozens of unwanted and “abusive” text messages from him over the previous two days. In a statement she said that the incident had caused £1,500 of damage to their address and left her with “horrible memories”.
She stated, “The thought of seeing him worries me. He is a man out of control. I am worried he will look to take revenge on us. He knows where we live.”
Atzori, who appeared from prison via video link, admitted two offences of making threats with an offensive weapon and harassment.
The judge, Recorder David Knifton KC jailed him for two years and imposed a ten-year restraining order to keep away from the two victims.
He said he had been handed an eviction notice shortly before the incident “as a result of his volatile and threatening behaviour”.
“You responded by sending a number of abusive and threatening messages to them. More significantly, you summoned Mrs Fijakowski to your room and aimed what was for all intents and purposes a homemade flamethrower towards her.
“She described the flame coming within inches of her face. She screamed to her husband, who found himself in a similar situation.
“Mr and Mrs Fijakowski were absolutely terrified and afraid for their lives. You are undoubtedly likely to have been affected by psychotic symptoms at the time of the commission of these offences.”
Simon Christie, defending, said that Atzori, who was one previous conviction for a public order offence, has significant mental health difficulties.
“He has been in custody for about five months, give or take, which he has plainly not found an easy experience.
He said that the defendant’s guilty plea was evidence of his remorse.
