A young man caught up in a love triangle set fire to a car he believed belonged to his rival following a fight in a night club, Magistrates' Court heard last week.

Kurt Dowling, 20, of Farm Lane, Warwick admitted torching the car, which was parked outside the Showtime night club in Dockyard, on August 11, after he was involved in a fight with Bilal Khalid Binns.

But it emerged later that the Fiat Toledo, which suffered $6,000 of damage, belonged to Binns' mother Delores, said Crown counsel Graveny Bannister.

Dowling's lawyer Richard Hector said his client was sorry for the offence, but he was angry after being beaten up by a group of Binns' friends in the club.

"This thing arose out of enmity between two young men who had the same girlfriend. My client went to Showtime and he was jeered and followed by Binns," said Mr. Hector.

"The result was an altercation between him and Binns and eight or nine of Binns' friends beat him and chased him off, and in a fit of anger, thinking the car belonged to Binns, he poured petrol that was nearby over the car and set it alight.

"I ask you to understand the circumstances. It was two young men fighting over a prize and having violence visited on him by the other's friends, the other is venting spleen over the car, that turns out to belong to the mother."

Binns who works at Sonesta Beach hotel, has previous convictions for stealing, helping someone escape from custody and keeping a dog that caused injury to chickens.

Magistrate Carlisle Greaves ordered Dowling and Mrs. Binns to work out a compensation deal and come back to court.

He expressed his frustration that the maximum fine for this offence is $250. "That can't get you a proper hamburger," he said.