AN obsessed ex-husband tried to torch his three-year-old son and father-in-law following a terrifying stalking campaign against his estranged wife - which involved hiding in her loft.

Mark Miller, 39, was caught spying on the woman and their children from a hiding place in the attic of their home after sneaking in while they were out.

He was caught by family members crouched in the rafters after letting himself in with a key that his estranged wife did not know he had.

Miller refused to accept their 20-year relationship was over and blamed her father for "interfering" following the break-up.

So he lay in wait for the man a the former marital home in Guisborough, east Cleveland, and splashed barbecue lighter fuel over both him and his terrified young son and tried to ignite it as they pulled up.

A judge at Teesside Crown Court said yesterday (Friday, March 20) that it was only by "great good fortune" that a catastrophe was avoided.

Just over ten years before the attack, Miller had become fixated that his wife was having an affair and set fire to her bed, holding her in the room saying he wanted them both to perish in the blaze.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years for reckless arson, but when he came out she forgave him and continued their relationship.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden said he began drinking heavily, hiding alcohol around the house, gambling and demanded frequent sex or he would visit prostitutes.

After splitting in late 2013, Miller began texting her pictures pretending to hang himself, taking pills and of gravestones, threatening: "I can get to your house quicker than the police can."

Miller ignored a suspended sentence imposed for breaching a non-molestation order and a separate restraining order when he went to the house again last June as his ex-wife's father pulled up in his car.

Mr Dryden said: "He approached the window and said 'This is the last f***ing time you will interfere' and began flicking the liquid through the driver's window.

"[The man's] shirt and trousers were drenched. He began trying to activate the windows to close them while the defendant fumbled with a lighter trying to light it."

Graham Silvester, defending, said: "He regrets bitterly the hurt and anxiety he has caused his ex partner and her family. He was far from a well man when he undertook the course for which he falls to be sentenced. He is a hard working industrious man."

Miller, of Meadowfields, Whitby, admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, breaching a non-molestation order and breaching a restraining order.

He was jailed for a total of eight years and nine months by Recorder James Brown, who told him: "It is only by great good fortune that a catastrophe was avoided."