Darren Smith was jailed for life for the murder of Richard Thomas (Picture: Media Wales)

A man who attacked a neighbour in his own caravan then left him to die after setting it ablaze while he lay helpless inside has been jailed for life.

Darren Smith, 43, had got on with Richard Thomas, 52, who lived beside him at The Beeches Residential Caravan Park in Monmouthshire before the relationship became ‘somewhat volatile’.

The pair clashed on the countryside site on December 18, 2021, with Smith later texting his mum to say: ‘I don’t need that, but if he does at again I would have to hurt him.’

Three days later, he assaulted Mr Thomas in his park home, leaving him ‘lying on the floor injured and incapacitated’.

Prosecutor Michael Jones KC told Cardiff Crown Court: ‘He then set fire to the caravan using petrol and then walked away knowing Mr Thomas was unable to get out.

‘He died as a direct result of the injuries he sustained.’

Paramedics found Mr Thomas ‘smouldering and smoking’ inside and managed to carry him outside where he was found to have severe burns to 60-70% of his body.

He had also suffered blunt force injuries to his head and chest, including several broken ribs.

Darren Smith set fire to Mr Thomas’s caravan while he lay helpless inside (Picture: Media Wales)

Mr Smith suffered unsurvivable injuries (Picture: Wales News Service)

Smith was said to have told another neighbour: ‘If he dies, he dies.’

When firefighters and police officers arrived, the court heard Smith tried to speak to them.

Mr Jones added: ‘He said he knew nothing about the fire and suggested Mr Thomas might have taken his own life.’

He ran the same suggestion as his defence to the charge of murder but was convicted.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: ‘You said, “No one was meant to die”. I find that to be true but there was obviously a high risk of death by lighting a fire close or setting fire to Mr Thomas himself while unconscious.’

Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years.

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Richard Thomas was unable to escape after neing ‘incapacitated’ by neighbour Darren Smith.