Shaun Storey arrives at court

A York soldier set fire to part of the house of his ex-girlfriend when she told him she had a new boyfriend, York Crown Court heard.

Shaun Storey also poured paint over the window of policewoman Debra Launder's new home in Boroughbridge, alleged prosecutor Nicholas Clark.

Hours earlier he had repeatedly phoned her after she had made it clear she did not want him to contact her.

Storey, 35, of Hamilton Drive East, Acomb, denies arson and criminal damage.

Giving evidence against him, Miss Launder claimed that their relationship broke up amicably in November 1997.

But afterwards, he rang her up more frequently than when they were together.

In March 1998, she moved to Boroughbridge.

He phoned her on April 3 as she was preparing to go to the theatre.

"He was very pushy and aggressive and wanted to know if I was seeing anyone else," she alleged.

"I said yes. He became very emotional."

Miss Launder claimed Storey wanted to know if her new boyfriend was a police officer.

She alleged she told Storey not to contact her and put the phone down.

"It was clear he wasn't handling it very well," she alleged.

Storey rang back twice in quick succession before she went out at about 6.20pm.

When she returned the next morning, she found the front door and hall floorboards had been burned and paint had been thrown on her front window.

Miss Launder alleged: "I went to open the door and couldn't."

She claimed the hallway was full of smoke.

Mr Clark alleged earlier that a neighbour had seen the damage and called the police about two-and-a-half hours before Miss Launder returned.

When officers searched Storey's house later that day, they found paint on a gas mask, brown suede shoes and a strap in the boot of his car.

It was a common type of paint and matched that used at Miss Launder's home.

The soldier claimed in police interviews that he had used the car to dump rubbish, including paint, in a lay-by off the York ring road but although police searched lay-bys in the area they could not find any rubbish.

A scientific expert was expected to give evidence for the prosecution today.

The trial continues.

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