A pensioner has described the moment he discovered his neighbour attempting to set his house on fire while he and his XL Bully were inside. Gerard Bennett had been working at the front of his home in Everton for several hours on March 26 this year before going inside to make a coffee at around 6pm.
When he came back out, he said he immediately smelled petrol and saw his “nightmare neighbour” Gary Bohanna trying to set one of his motorbikes alight. Gerard, 70, said: “I had been working all day in the front garden, getting it ready for when it was being paved. I moved one of my motorbikes into the front garden but it was just a shell of a bike. It didn't have a petrol tank on it.”
“I came outside after making a drink and saw him there. He was stood outside my house, leaning over the fence with a cigarette lighter in one hand and a blowtorch in the other. It was right next to my bedroom window.”
Threat to call police
Gerard said he told Bohanna he was going to ring the police, and Bohanna replied: “go on then, I have PTSD”. Gerard said: “I just thought how can he hide behind that? So I rang the police who told me to get in touch with the fire brigade.”
Gerard, who lives in a semi-detached bungalow, explained how he has been left feeling anxious as a result of the incident, telling the ECHO he had had issues with Bohanna in the past. He continued: “He's a nightmare. Everyone (else) on the road is lovely. I stood up to him and only spoke to him a couple times before this happened. I don't understand what made him do it.”
XL Bully inside
Inside the house during the incident was his triple American XL bully, Lenny, who he described as “harmless”, and Gerard now refuses to sleep in his bedroom at the front of the house due to his anxiety. Gerard said: “There is a nursing home next door too, imagine if that had gone up in flames. I've been sleeping on the couch since, I don't want to be in the bedroom.”
Bohanna, 55, of Tavy Road, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to attempted arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered. He had previously denied the charge. Gerard said he was due to give evidence when the plea was changed.
Previous conviction
Bohanna is due to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on November 2. He was previously convicted in 2023 after he targeted a taxi driver in a racist attack. Bohanna positioned himself behind the driver's seat then forcefully choked the driver with a belt as the vehicle was in motion, having subjected him to a tirade of vile racist abuse. Bohanna was given a 12 month jail sentence, suspended for two years in February 2023.
One Vision Housing, who look after the houses that Gerard and Bohanna live in, was contacted by the ECHO regarding these concerns but the housing association did not respond.
