Four teenagers who filmed themselves setting fire to Rheola House, the Grade II* listed John Nash manor in the Neath Valley, have each been locked up for three years.
Kyle Renzoni, 18, of Cadoxton, Ellis Harding, 19, of Gendros, Yian Foster, 18, of Resolven, and Evan Traynor, 18, of Waunarlwydd, were sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on Friday. Each was given three years’ detention in a young offender institution.
All four had pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. None had previous convictions.
Judge Geraint Walters told them: “Your actions can only be described as an unfathomable display of unspeakable wickedness.” He said the term could have been suspended, but only immediate custody was appropriate.
The GoPro found in the car
Sian Cutter, prosecuting, said CCTV at the empty house near Resolven caught a car carrying five people arriving at 3.50pm on 18 August, at the height of the summer heatwave. The occupants could be seen pulling on face coverings.
South Wales Police traced the car to Renzoni and found him sitting in it with Harding, Traynor and the youth, along with balaclavas and a GoPro camera. Foster was identified from Snapchat messages and arrested the next day, when he asked officers if he was “going to get a slap on the wrist”.
The footage, filmed by Renzoni, showed Foster and the youth pouring liquid onto cardboard in a garage and trying to start a fire that quickly burned itself out, the court was told.
On the recording, Foster could be heard asking: “Shall we actually torch the gaff?”
Renzoni replied: “Not now. I want to go in first and kill the homeless guy.”
Nobody was living in the house. Renzoni and Harding used crowbars to force their way into the former servants’ quarters, where the youth set light to cardboard and Foster and Traynor carried in wood to feed the fire.
Renzoni was then heard to say: “I feel like that was a bad idea.” Harding answered: “Me too.”
On the way back to the car, Traynor stopped to set fire to the long, dry grass in front of the house.
Only the outer walls left standing
A man working on the neighbouring farm spotted smoke at around 4.30pm and sent up his drone, which showed fire at the back of the house and in the grass at the front, Miss Cutter said.
The servants’ quarters were well alight when firefighters arrived, and the blaze spread into the main house and up into the roof. Crews were not able to damp it down until 10.30pm.
By that evening the roof had gone, its blackened trusses standing bare against the smoke.
A fire investigator saw one of the damaged floors collapse as he examined the house the next day, the court heard. The roof, the floors and the cantilevered staircase were all destroyed, leaving only the outer walls.
Miss Cutter said it was not yet known whether the building could be repaired.
A £65m plan in doubt
The owners, BR Rheola Ltd, bought the estate around five years ago for £1m, about £750,000 of it for the house, the prosecution said. They had been working with Neath Port Talbot Council, with a detailed planning application expected at the end of this year or early in 2027.
The owners say they had been looking at investing around £65m, and Miss Cutter said the fire would have “significant consequences for the viability” of the project.
The judge said the scheme could have benefited the whole of the Neath Valley, and called the attack “pointless”.
‘Absolutely devastated’
David Singh, for Renzoni, said his client was “absolutely devastated” at the impact on the community and his family, and had taken steps to join the armed forces.
Barristers for Harding, Foster and Traynor said each was immature for his age, and described difficult upbringings and learning and behavioural conditions. Harding and Traynor had both tried to join the Army and been turned down.
The fifth defendant, who cannot be named because of his age, had already been given a referral order at Swansea Youth Court. The judge said magistrates “should never have kept that case” and should have sent him to be sentenced with the others.
The five were charged two days after the fire, in August.
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