Amy Pugh, of Penn Road, Dudleywas sentenced to Shrewsbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to a charge of arson caused by the incident.

Andrew Wilkins, prosecuting, told how Pugh, who is 34, set fire to the garage at the home she shared with her late husband, Kyle Pugh, on Aston Drive in Newport.

The incident occurred on 15 October 2021. Mr Pugh died in March 2022.

The court was told the couple had been out at a funeral on the day of the fire and had argued after drinking at the vigil.

Mr Wilkins said the fight continued when they returned home.

When Mr Pugh left the house, his wife went into the garage where her husband ran his artwork business and set some of his works on fire.

The fire engulfed the building, destroying commercial equipment and leading to emergency services being called to “a domestic incident and garage fire” at around 8.57pm.

Mr Wilkins told how Pugh blamed her husband for the fire.

He added: “Those conversations with the officers were all lies.”

The court was told officers found an iPad open on Facebook messenger with pictures of the fire sent by Pugh to an account called “husband”.

Mr Wilkins said Pugh also sent her husband a video of the garage fire and could be heard singing “ring of fire” in a “drunken state” in the background.

The court heard they received messages from Mr Pugh “devastated” by the fire and seeing their livelihoods destroyed.

Mr Wilkins said that in the following days Pugh made a number of admissions to other people, including saying she had a lighter hidden in her bra, but police did not search her.

Mr Wilkins added that there was “a certain amount of joy that he will get away with it” – or get a community order.

The prosecution claimed the value of the damage caused by the fire was almost £29,000 – a figure disputed by the defence.

“He loved his business”

A victim impact statement from Pugh’s sister Victoria Edmund told how her brother built the business from scratch to the point where he had international clients and was well respected for his craft.

Read by Mr Wilkins, she said she “loved his business”, adding that it helped him deal with his mental health issues by giving him a focus.

The statement continued: “It would help anyone trying to get into the same business and show their skills.”

The court was told the business was “completely destroyed that night”.

Leila Gaafar, mitigating for Pugh, urged Judge Anthony Lowe to suspend his sentence.

She said the incident on the night in question happened while the pair were involved in a drunken row – adding that Mr Pugh threw a brick through a bedroom window as he walked away from the house.

Ms Gaafar said Pugh did not intend to burn down the entire garage but had initially set fire to a “small model” made by Mr Pugh in an “impulsive act of the moment”.

She said: “He took a photograph of the fire, which at that stage was pretty well contained, and sent it to Mr Pugh.”

She added: “Before we knew it the garage was completely engulfed in flames and it all happened very quickly.”

“Huge regrets”

Ms Gafaar said Pugh was “hugely sorry for what happened” and “never meant for the fire to get out of hand”.

Sentencing, Judge Lowe said: “I am satisfied that you deliberately targeted the garage as this was a way in which you knew you could hurt your husband most.

“I am not afraid to accept that your intention was to cause only minimal harm. I think you basically couldn’t care less how much it was caused and that is proven by the reaction to the videos you sent your husband.

“This conduct is compounded by the fact that you have not only persistently denied your role in setting the garage fire, but have suggested that it was your husband who did it and was arrested on suspicion of- a”.

But the judge said he was prepared to suspend the sentence – although it was a borderline decision.

He said he took into account the fact that Pugh had done nothing similar before and the potential impact of a prison sentence on her family.

He also said that crowded prisons were part of his decision.

He said: “I have to be mindful of the prison population when deciding whether to suspend a prison sentence.”

Pugh received 19 months in prison, suspended for two years.

She was subjected to a six-week period between 7.30pm and 6am and must complete a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Judge Lowe gave Pugh a three-year restraining order preventing her from contacting two of her former neighbours.