But Diaz, 30, was intent on burning the physical reminders of his unhappy life and on January 3 this year he acted on the threats.

Diaz pulled apart one smoke detector in his two-storey Chifley Crescent public housing unit and disabled another.

He then started a fire in two places – on the lounge and in a pile of clothes in the stairwell – left the unit and rode off on his green motor scooter without a thought that he was putting the lives of his neighbours at risk.

One of them saw smoke billowing out of Diaz’s unit and telephoned triple-0, later telling police that Diaz had told him the night before: “I have nothing to live for. I’m going to burn the house down in the morning”.

Luckily, firefighters were, by coincidence, nearby and were quick on the scene, putting out the fire before any major structural damage was caused to Diaz’s unit or neighbouring units.

But the fire still caused more than $70,000 damage and destroyed furniture, clothing and baby furniture belonging to Diaz’s former partner.

She had visited the unit the day before to collect some clothing but found herself locked in the unit by Diaz.

Terrified, she ran to the upstairs bedroom and climbed from the balcony onto a tree to get away from Diaz.

The next day – the day Diaz set fire to the unit – he rang his former partner and asked if she was coming home.

According to facts tendered to Wagga Local Court, Diaz responded by saying words to the effect of: “Oh well, I’m gonna burn the house” or “I’ll burn everything in the house”.

The woman shrugged off the threat, telling Diaz: “Don’t be silly”.

Diaz, of no fixed address but formerly of Griffith, was listed for sentence on Monday on charges of intentionally damaging property by fire and contravening a domestic violence order. However, he was arrested last Thursday after breaching his bail. He was brought before court on Friday and given two concurrent 14-month jail sentences with eight months’ non-parole.