A cannabis-oil maker has been jailed for more than eight years after causing an explosion that ripped through his block of flats and forced a woman to jump on to a trampoline to escape.
James Toogood, 36, had been using butane gas to produce cannabis hash oil at the home he shared with his girlfriend in Hartcliffe, Bristol, on February 23 last year.
Emergency services were called to the explosion, which caused damage worth an estimated £260,000 to four properties, just before 8pm.
Emergency services were called to the explosion, which caused damage worth an estimated £260,000 to four properties, just before 8pm
The explosion ripped through the block of flats and left one neighbour having to jump to safety onto a trampoline in the garden.
James Toogood, 36, (pictured) had been using butane gas to produce cannabis hash oil
A jury at Bristol Crown Court heard the blast demolished two Bristol City Council flats.
Witnesses described how they heard a large boom before Toogood appeared from the debris with his clothes on fire – claiming he had just been cooking.
Toogood, who previously admitted producing a class B drug, was convicted of one count of arson where life was endangered following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Lee Townsend, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: ‘James Toogood’s reckless actions put not only his life, but innocent neighbours’ lives at risk.
‘It is only through luck that his dangerous activities did not cause a fatality.
‘A substantial amount of damage was done to the property in Whitchurch Lane and the shocking photographs in the immediate aftermath are a testament of how serious an incident this was.
The explosion ripped through the block of flats and left one neighbour having to jump to safety onto a trampoline in the garden
‘I am pleased that the seriousness of this offence has been reflected in the sentence handed out to him.’
Laura Hawkins, 39, who lives with Toogood, was handed a 15-month prison sentence after being convicted of permitting the production of a class B drug at her flat, police said
Laura Hawkins, 39, who lives with Toogood, was handed a 15-month prison sentence after being convicted of permitting the production of a class B drug at her flat, police said.
Kirstie Dukes told the jury that she lived on the ground floor in a block of flats in Whitchurch Lane with her daughter, aged four.
She had been living there nearly five years, she said, and to the left of her lived Hawkins.
Miss Dukes said initially she and Hawkins got on very well.
Two years before the incident Toogood moved in with Hawkins, she said, and initially she got on well with him too until 2018, when they exchanged words and kept out of each other’s way.
She recounted how, once, Toogood showed her a container like a large soup pan which was a sticky substance called ‘Shatter’ – which Toogood said was a way of making cannabis ‘more expensive’.
Miss Dukes said on February 23 last year she got home around 6.30pm and was getting her daughter ready for bed.
Witnesses described how they heard a large boom before Toogood appeared from the debris with his clothes on fire – claiming he had just been cooking
Toogood, who previously admitted producing a class B drug, was convicted of one count of arson where life was endangered following a trial at Bristol Crown Court
Miss Dukes told the court: ‘It happened so quickly. I felt and heard a boom and the ground shook. I saw Miss Hawkins child’s climbing frame fly across the road and shards of glass and I thought what on earth had happened?’
With that, she said, she saw the flat next to her missing, and a dazed Toogood with his shirt on fire.
She said her partner, Ricky Lee Bourton, got Toogood out of the building and they rolled him on the ground to put the flames out.
Toogood (right) declined to give evidence while Hawkins (left) said she thought he was cooking, before a blast blew her from her flat
Mr Bourton described rolling a dazed, burning Toogood on the ground before helping resident Laura Pearson to jump from an upstairs flat onto a trampoline.
With that Hawkins, looking like she was in shock and in pain, came from the side of the building, carrying her dog.
There then sounded like a second, smaller explosion, Mr Bourton said.
Toogood declined to give evidence while Hawkins said she thought he was cooking, before a blast blew her from her flat.