Man jailed for torching Cardiff crack den in revenge attack

A Cardiff man who firebombed a terraced house being used as a drugs den has been jailed after a court heard he carried out the attack in revenge for a bad drug deal.

Shaun Gregg travelled to a property on Clare Road in Grangetown on June 3 last year to purchase cannabis, but left feeling he’d been short-changed on what he’d paid for. Later that night, the 49-year-old returned to the address with revenge on his mind.

Cardiff Crown Court was told that Gregg spat at the front door before entering the house and deliberately starting a fire. He then casually walked away from the scene, leaving the property to be engulfed in flames. The terraced house was completely gutted in the blaze, and two people were rushed to hospital for treatment.

Emergency services battled to bring the fire under control, but Gregg was later spotted back on the street – having brazenly returned to the scene of his crime.

The defendant, of Tudor Street, Grangetown, was convicted at trial of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. His criminal history is extensive, with 24 previous convictions covering 46 offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, wounding, threatening behaviour, possession of an offensive weapon, and affray.

Most seriously, in 2019 Gregg was handed an 11-year prison sentence for rape and attempted rape after holding down a vulnerable woman while his younger brother raped her, and doing the same when his father attempted to rape the same victim on another occasion.

Defence barrister Emma Harris told the court that psychiatric and pre-sentence reports outlined traumatic experiences during Gregg’s “somewhat chaotic” childhood.

Sentencing him, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said it was clear from the evidence that the defendant had visited the Clare Street property that day to try to buy cannabis and after handing over his money felt he had “not received what he had paid for”.

The judge said there was an “element of revenge” in Gregg returning to the address and starting the fire at the house, a property “which was being used, in effect, as a crack den”. He noted that after the emergency service had dealt with the fire the defendant had been seen on the street “having returned to the scene of the crime”.

Judge Jenkins said that after reading the reports and considering Gregg’s criminal record, he was satisfied that a standard determinate sentence was appropriate and that an extended sentence under the dangerous offender provisions was not necessary.

Gregg was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. He will serve half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.