‘Neighbour from hell’ caught on video taking lighter to electrical box

A "neighbour from hell" was caught on video taking a lighter to an electrical box with nearby residents fearing they might be "blown up".

Tracey Smith, 52, was suspected of having a row with a neighbour before coming "to cause trouble" this summer. Another neighbour described being terrified as Smith appeared in the early hours, lighter in hand.

The Hull woman's careless actions were caught on video with one witness saying she came "pulling wires out of the electrical box" and "attempting to set fire" to them. There was also a gas box nearby, reports HullLive.

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An anonymous mum who witnessed the ordeal said she woke "to banging and shouting" on July 1 and called the police. "Not long after, Tracey came out and started pulling wires out of the electrical box on the side of the property," she said.

"Which is next to the gas box. I was suspicious so started recording and she came back out with a lighter and started attempting to set fire to the wires. I shouted at her to stop and she said something about the man upstairs 'not shutting up'. I told her I didn't care, you don't do that, but she continued."

The mum called the police again but fled her house with her children. "My children were petrified," she continued.

"The police came 20 minutes later and we were lucky that the wind had blown the fire out but damage was still done to the box," she continued. "If she had been successful, the gas box next to it could have caught fire and we could have all been blown up."

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"I was pleased she was remanded and passed the video to the police but disappointed she only got three months. She is the neighbour from hell and the neighbourhood doesn't feel safe with her around."

Smith was arrested on July 1, immediately after the incident, and appeared at Hull Magistrates' Court on Monday, July 3. She was originally charged with arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, but this was later changed to arson.

Smith admitted the charge and was jailed for three months at Hull Crown Court on Monday, September 25.

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