A FATHER served his son a drug-laced lamb stew before setting fire to the family home in a bid to kill them both.

Roy Farrow, 61, was said to be depressed at the time and unable to accept the breakdown of his marriage to a much younger woman he worshipped, a court heard.

Farrow, of Runcie Place, Canterbury, drugged his 12-year-old son Jamie with lamb stew laced with temazepam then carried the boy to his – Farrow’s – bedroom, laying him fully clothed on the bed.

He also took sleeping pills and lay next to his sleeping son with a picture of him and his wife Katrina between them.

Weeks earlier Farrow had disabled or removed two smoke alarms at the house, and had also locked the windows. The fire was started with a lit cigarette in a matchbox full of live matches which was left on, or by, a sofa in the sitting room.

Jamie escaped after waking and jumping out of a first-floor window – unlocked at the last minute by Farrow – into the arms of neighbours.

Farrow appeared at Canterbury Crown Court where he admitted attempting to murder Jamie between December 20 and 23, last year. He had earlier admitted arson and being reckless whether life was endangered, and was jailed for six years.

Oliver Saxby, prosecuting, said Jamie, who was born and brought up in Canterbury, was living with his father because he was unhappy living with his 35-year-old mother in Whitstable after his parents had separated.

Farrow had threatened to kill himself more than once if she didn’t return, and vowed she would never get the house or Jamie. He had also threatened to burn the house down.

Mr Saxby told the court: "By December 22, Farrow could cope no more. His primary motivation seems to have been a desire to punish Katrina.

Jailing Farrow for six years, Judge Anthony Webb told him: "Whether your son will ever see you again is a question for him to decide."

* FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S KENTISH GAZETTE.