A former drug addict who torched a family business’ haulage yard in a “cowardly” attack which caused £1.5million worth of damage has been jailed for four years and ten months.

But the family who lost nine lorries in the fire in October 2015 are disappointed by the sentence.

Surrey Comet:

Carl Richardson, 35, (pictured above) from Waterfields, Leatherhead, had admitted setting fire to nine lorries belonging to Penwarden Haulage and a Premier Skip in College Road, Epsom.

From November 2015: Reward offered to help catch arsonists who torched Epsom family business

Surrey Police released CCTV footage which showed two hooded men breaking into the front of the haulage yard at 3.32am on Saturday, October 3.

Surrey Comet:

The pair are seen trying to open the lorries before throwing bricks at the windows as well as an object that sets the vehicles alight.

They then fled at about 4.15am before firefighters arrived to tackle the fires.

Residents reported being woken up by "horrendous" flames and "loud bangs" from exploding tyres.

Richardson was arrested on November 24 and bailed, before being charged on December 22.

From March 2016: Carl Richardson, 35, pleads guilty to two counts of arson at Penwarden Haulage in Epsom

He then pleaded guilty to two counts of arson on March 17 and was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on May 5.

He was sentenced to four years and ten months for one count of arson and 29 months for a second count of arson. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Surrey Comet:

But Luke Penwarden, transport manager of the family business, was unsatisfied with the sentencing.

He said: “I’m disappointed. There’s no point in the 29 months running concurrently.

“He’ll be out in two years.”

Mr Penwarden was also not optimistic about the chance of Richardson being rehabilitated in prison.

He said: “He was a heroin addict. He is 35 years-old. He was not going to change.

“If he was going to change he would have done it years ago.

“It was a proper cowardly thing to do.

“But we will not let this beat us. We could have, but we are too strong for that.”

From April 2016: Arsonist Carl Richardson who torched 10 lorries in Epsom Penwarden Haulage yard says 'he was forced to do it by gang'​

In a pre-sentence interview, Richardson claimed he was intimidated into the attack after falling heavily in debt to a gang.

He claims he was beaten up before and after torching the ten lorries.

Mr Penwarden said: “He is just the pawn. I would have loved to know who the main person was that put him up to it.

“But at least someone has gone down for it.”

Surrey Comet:

The arson attack was just the latest in a long list of offences Richardson – who has previously lived in Gateway, Weybridge and in Hurstbourne, Esher – has committed.

He stole a Bobcat mini-digger from a garden in Claygate early in the morning in April 2013, driving off with it in the back of a white van with another three men and a red Volkswagen Polo in convoy.

Despite attempts to cover their tracks by swapping the number plates on the van while stopping in Leatherhead, the car was stopped by police in Oxshott.

The van was later found in Hazelmere Close, Leatherhead, with two stolen diggers.

From April 2014: Drug addict asks to be sent to prison for his part in Claygate digger theft

After being caught stealing lead from a girls’ school in Tolworth in February 2014, he told police, “I’ve committed this offence to go to prison.”

From April 2014: Tolworth Girls' School lead thief: 'I did it so they would send me to prison'

During his sentencing for the lead theft in April 2014, Guildford Crown Court had heard how Richardson began committing offences at the age of 32, after breaking up with his long term partner and losing his job.

He also tested positive for cocaine and heroin following a drugs test at Surbiton Wellbeing Centre in September 2015.