A career criminal has been jailed for six years for torching the car of a man he viewed as a love rival, and painting ‘let her go, she is mine’ outside his house.Brian Rogers, 49, was found guilty by a jury on February 1 of arson, criminal damage, two counts of theft and taking a motor vehicle without consent.He is a self-confessed drug addict with a string of theft convictions dating back to the 1970s.During Rogers’ trial, the jury heard he began a sexual relationship with long-time friend and fellow drug user Denise Evans Wilkinson in 2009. Both were said to be involved in relationships with other people.On October 8, 2009 Ms Evans Wilkinson spent the night at a male friend’s house. According to evidence, her relationship with Maxwell Brown was not sexual and they slept in separate rooms at his Devonshire home.Early the next morning, Mr Brown’s sister smelled burning outside and discovered his car was on fire. Mr Brown tried to throw water on the blaze, with no success, and the fire brigade was called.He also noticed someone had painted ‘let her go, she is mine’ in white, on the walls outside his home.The same day, one of Mr Brown’s neighbours discovered his work van had been broken into and several items were missing, including a Dell laptop computer, valued at $2,000.The neighbour also found 20 bottles of homemade Rum Swizzle had been stolen from his porch.Police found Rogers’ fingerprints on a Heineken beer bottle at the scene and went to his house in Pembroke to question him. Rogers ran away upon seeing the officers.They later found items Rogers stole from the van, plus a motorbike he took from another victim the day before. They also discovered white paint on Rogers’ clothes.During yesterday’s sentencing, prosecutor Kirsty-Ann Kiellor said the crime was aggravated by issues including the fact that Rogers had subjected Ms Evans Wilkinson to domestic violence prior to it. She had been seeking shelter with Mr Brown.Ms Kiellor added there was “a real risk” the house could have caught fire if Mr Brown’s sister had not smelled the blaze.“The defendant was acting out of jealousy, spite, as is clearly borne out by the words marked on the walls and the very act of setting fire to one’s rival’s car in the middle of the night,” she said.She added that he committed a burglary while on bail for the arson, for which he is currently serving a three-year prison term.Defence lawyer Marc Daniels suggested it is not too late for Rogers to be rehabilitated if he’s given help for his problems and asked the judge to be lenient.Rogers told the court: “I still maintain my innocence, I have no hard feelings towards Mr Brown and Ms Evans. I wish him well, I still think he’s a cool guy.”Jailing him for six years, and ordering that the sentence run consecutively to the three years he’s already serving, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said: “That this behaviour emanated from jealousy, vindictiveness and a desire to control Ms Evans aggravates it further.”She also imposed a Police supervision order on Rogers after his release an option for persistent offenders.That means he must report to a police station once a month and notify them of his address.