Drink-fuelled arsonist sparks £20,000 house blaze and terrorises neighbours
Abigail Turnbull, 28, has been locked up for 30 months after setting fire to her own home in a drunken, drug-fuelled rampage that nearly ended in tragedy. The Whitley Bay woman recklessly lit three separate fires inside her house on Wallridge Drive in the small hours of April 17, putting her neighbours’ lives at risk.
Neighbours forced to flee flaming inferno
While nearby families slept, Turnbull’s dangerous blaze broke out just after 4.30am. A young family woke to smoke alarms and thick, choking smoke pouring from her property. They had no choice but to evacuate their adjoining home in a panic.
Emergency crews found Turnbull sitting confused on her doorstep amid the £20,000 inferno. She was taken to hospital with suspected smoke inhalation before police arrested her. During an interview, she bizarrely admitted starting the fires, claiming she “thought people were inside” and wanted to “scare them away.”
Detective warns of deadly consequences
Detective Constable Suzanne Davies led the investigation and condemned Turnbull’s reckless act. She said: “This could easily have resulted in a fatality or very serious injury. She is incredibly lucky not to face a harsher punishment.”
Davies added: “There is no place for this behaviour in our community. A home should be a safe haven, and the neighbours will never forget the terror of that night.”
Neighbours left traumatised
A neighbour evacuated during the blaze told court: “I had nothing but problems since Abi moved in three years ago — noise, music in the early hours, doors slamming. Since the fire, my child is scared the ‘nasty lady’ will come back.”
Turnbull has entered jail and will not return to the street. Her selfish blaze has left a scar on the tight-knit community — and a family living in fear.
