A man torched two cars in three days as part of a long running feud against another family, a court was told.

Leeds Crown Court heard Jason Walshaw was already under a community order for an offence of racially aggravated public disorder involving the same victims when the further trouble occurred last June.

Michael Smith prosecuting said that earlier incident had involved Walshaw making threats towards the Pitts family after he blamed them for calling the fire brigade to a bonfire party in November 2015 which he was having for children near flats in Sykes Close, Batley.

On June 1 last year Walshaw was again heard shouting threats towards the family after chasing one man away from his girlfriend’s flat.

At 1am a window was broken at the home of his girlfriend and that led to a 999 call to the police but when officers arrived Walshaw was argumentative to them and inquiries could not be completed.

Within hours Walshaw appeared to seek revenge for what he believed had happened when at 4am David Pitts heard banging and saw Walshaw outside his home smashing the window of his Ford Fiesta and setting it on fire.

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Mr Smith said on June 3 after seeing Mr Pitts’s son Steven Gledhill in a supermarket although there was no confrontation Walshaw then went and set light to his car at his home as well. Both vehicles he targeted were written off.

Walshaw was also involved with some other men shouting abuse at one of Mr Pitts’s daughters and when she got in her car stones were thrown at it.

Craig Sutcliffe representing Walshaw said he and his girlfriend had also suffered abuse and threats in the feud and when the window in her flat was broken causing injuries, he felt aggrieved at the delay in police dealing with it.

He realised he should not have reacted as he had but had caused damage to property and had not targeted places where people might be. “It was more an attempt to cause upset and inconvenience.”

Walshaw, 27 of Springfield Avenue, Batley admitted two charges of arson and two of affray.

Jailing him for a total of 71 months, Judge Robin Mairs said there was clearly “a long running feud between you and another family”.

He said Walshaw appeared to think “it was a matter of honour involved” but sneaking around setting fire to cars and threatening families was not a matter of honour.