A MAN has denied plotting to set fire to his estranged partner’s home by persuading a third party to carry out the deed.

Kamran Afshar is alleged to have enlisted another man to pour petrol through the letter box at her Consett home, before igniting the fuel.

But the would-be co-conspirator is understood to have got cold feet and informed another person what was planned, before police became involved.

Appearing via video link to Durham Crown Court, from Holme House Prison, in Stockton, the 43-year-old defendant denied a charge of conspiring to commit arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered, on dates between April 1 and May 6 this year.

The case was adjourned for a trial, estimated to run between three and four days, at the court, starting on Tuesday, October 11.

Judge Simon Hickey remanded the defendant back to custody in the intervening period, although his counsel, Glenn Gatland, told the court he planned to make a forthcoming bail application offering a different home address.