A former Tory councillor in Stanford-le-Hope, who set fire to his girlfriend's home causing £60,000 worth of damage, has started a five-year prison sentence.
Michael Dalton, 51, pictured, was sentenced at Southend Crown Court after admitting two charges of arson.
The blaze he began at his girlfriend's house in Araglen Avenue, South Ockendon, after a row, also caused more than £8,000 worth of smoke damage to the house next door.
For this he was ordered to serve a concurrent three years in jail.
Dalton represented The Homesteads ward on Thurrock Council, from 1992 till 1996.
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