An uncle bent on revenge posted threats to Facebook before starting an inferno in an apartment block's underground car park.

Furious Byron Rainsford doused his victim's car in white spirit before torching it and two nearby vehicles, forcing families with young children to flee the blaze in Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

He travelled to The Avenue in search of retribution after the victim accused his nephew of domestic abuse.

He had earlier posted threats on his Facebook account saying he was seeking revenge against the victim and boasting he was "prepared to do time for his nephew".

Now the 32-year-old, from Hythe Close, Tunbridge Wells, has been jailed for four years and eight months after admitting charges of reckless arson and witness intimidation.

Prosecutor Mary Jacobson said on January 21 this year, the victim parked her Renault Clio in an underground car park near where she lived.

Half an hour before the blaze, which wrecked three cars and caused smoke damage to a flat, Rainsford had asked for directions from a local shopkeeper.

Ms Jacobson said: "At around 8pm the victim was in her flat when she heard a loud bang and a few minutes later heard someone was banging on her door and shouting 'fire' and to get out.

"The victim and her young son and other families left immediately - and it was then she saw her car was on fire.

"There were groups of people standing around and she saw the defendant was also standing there. He was asking for the quickest route to the Sherwood Estate. She was in fear and asked someone, who happened to be an off-duty police officer, not to leave her alone."

The court heard that a dog walker had spotted Rainsford standing at the car park entrance seconds before the blaze started.

Fire fighters arrived at 8.21pm and discovered a bottle of white spirit which Rainsford had used as an accelerant.

Ms Jacobson said fire doors had prevented the fire from spreading but not before the Renault with its contents were destroyed, valued at about £2,000.

A Ford Fiesta, worth £1,400 and a £2,000 Toyota Prius, which was owned by a taxi driver, parked either side of the Renault also went up in flames.

The cabbie, his wife and two children were left scared by the incident, The prosecutor added.

The victim later wrote: "As a result of his actions, he has put me and my family in fear. Months after the fire, my two year old son was terrified of going into the underground car park and would constantly tell me there was a fire."

Ben Irwin, defending, said Rainsford, who has a criminal record including 42 previous offences, now "bitterly regrets causing perfectly innocent children to fear".

He added: "This was more than a revenge attack given the victim was engaged in criminal proceedings against his nephew.

"The nephew was remanded into custody and Rainsford felt that he was 'not like me... he is a good man with real prospects and could go on and do something with his life'.

"He takes a very paternal view of his nephew and saw the distress of the remand into custody very keenly. The family felt the nephew had been wronged but that doesn't excuse what Rainsford did.

"It was rather scripted given the fact he posted messages on Facebook and published where he was going,"

Judge Charles Gratwicke told Rainsford: "You went to a block of flats and set fire to cars.

"It is merciful the fire did not take hold of the building. That is your good fortune.

"However, the idea of a young boy frightened by fires going on is repulsive to all right-minded people."

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