THE north Belfast home of a mother and her three young children has been destroyed in an arson attack.
Emergency services received reports of the blaze in Queen Victoria Gardens shortly before 3.30am on Saturday.
Fire crews extinguished the flames, but the house was left gutted.
Offensive graffiti was also daubed on the walls.
It is understood that Cliodhna Corbett (26) lived there with her young family but had moved out last week after police told her she was under threat.
Ms Corbett told UTV it was fortunate no-one was in the house at the time.
"I could have been dead and so could the kids. I would be a heavy sleeper, so I wouldn’t wake and people in the street said it went up so fast," she said.
"My whole life is gone, I’m heartbroken. I’ve been here for 10 years and I’ve never had any trouble, but I’m just scared for my life.
"I didn’t want to move, but now? I’m away. I have my kids to look after."
Ms Corbett said the fire was not the first attack on the property and she believes she has been targeted as the result of a personal feud.
"Last week, it was paint-bombed and nine windows smashed," she said.
"In July, there were six windows smashed. And in May, there was one window smashed with a clay skull thrown through it."
Police said they are following up on a number of lines of inquiry in their investigation into the blaze and appealed for information.
Meanwhile, detectives are also investigating a separate arson attack in Strabane.
Police received a report of a fire at the ground floor flat in Lisnafin Park at around 5.15am yesterday.
The flat was gutted and a number of nearby properties were evacuated.
SDLP West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan described it as a "reckless act of complete idiocy".
"The flats involved have recently undergone renovation by the Housing Executive to try and improve the living conditions of tenants or future tenants. But all this progress has now been destroyed," he said.
"Thankfully, no-one was hurt and that we are not talking about any fatalities today.”
