The man convicted of helping to burn down a couple's Marsh Lake retirement home was a family friend who'd eaten meals at their table and spent the odd night under their roof, territorial court heard this morning.

'I don't hate you for it, but I feel very let down,' the homeowner told Donald Paul Kingshott, 39, in court this morning after reading her victim impact statement aloud.

'I have no words for you but you need to live with the consequences of this on your mind for the rest of your life.'

The woman recounted learning her home and contents were gone, starting with the Marsh Lake fire chief's phone call last July 4 to tell her the $60,000-trailer had burned to the ground.

In shock and disbelief, the woman said she initially thought she was in a dream.

'It was a nightmare.'

Living in another Yukon community at the time, the woman couldn't initially go to see the destruction, but the closer she got to Marsh Lake, the less she wanted to witness it.

Friends went with her, as she was unable to go alone, she said. While waiting for them at the end of the long driveway, she could smell the 'burning stench.'

'I couldn't believe the destruction that I saw,' she said. 'There was nothing left.'

She could see a campfire nearby with paint cans in it, along with burned fuel cans, beer cans and cooler bottles scattered around. Looking around more, she saw damage to vehicles and outbuildings.

Initially, it looked like 'total stupidity and carelessness' was at the root, but she recounted learning it was set deliberately, and that a family friend was involved.

She said she was grateful no one was hurt, that a passerby had reported the fire to the authorities and that firefighters were able to contain the blaze, saving her neighbours' homes from the flames, despite the dry conditions.

'Many blessings in this regard took place,' she said.

At a trial in February, the court heard Kingshott drove a number of young people out to the Marsh Lake property in his vehicle. He gave them alcohol, then helped one young person carry a 160-kilogram propane tank into the trailer, pour diesel and put creosote on the floor.

A 17-year-old boy is to be sentenced in April for his part in the arson.

Four or five 32-kilogram propane tanks were also placed in the home. Witnesses testified seeing Kingshott and the young person start the blaze with lighters.

At trial, Judge John Faulkner had rejected the idea Kingshott was simply a bystander and hadn't been involved.

The judge reserved his decision on the sentence until this afternoon.

The Crown is asking for between two and three years' jail, while the defence counsel suggested time served and three years' probation.

Kingshott has been in custody for six months since his Sept. 24 arrest in Fort Nelson, B.C., equalling one year in jail when the standard double credit is applied to that remand time.

Both the Crown and defence said there's no reason Kingshott should not get the usual two-for-one credit.

Kingshott was found guilty of arson and using explosives with the intent to destroy or damage property. He'd also pleaded guilty to a territorial Liquor Act offence of providing alcohol to minors.

The homeowner who spoke in court this morning said she was appalled Kingshott gave liquor to the young people, as he knew how she felt about alcohol.

She'd known Kingshott four years, while her husband has known the man longer. They'd offered him their help in the past as well as having him at their home for meals, she said, noting he slept under their roof a couple of times.

Kingshott had even helped move the trailer when they first bought it in Teslin.

Initially after the arson, she couldn't sleep and functioned in a 'robotic state,' she said. Since then she and her husband have had arguments, particularly when the fire came up.

It was to be their retirement home when their current jobs end, but its loss is a major setback because it wasn't insured. The woman said she doesn't feel the same drive to put the time and energy already expended on setting up the home.

They'd spent $60,000 on the home and building supplies, which doesn't include the furniture and other contents. The least expensive replacement they've looked at is $90,000, she told the court.

Consumed in the blaze were photo albums and mementos from friends and of her children as they were growing up, the woman said.

'We're homeless, so to speak,' she said, noting she realizes Kingshott has had nothing in his life, but continued, 'Everything I have, I worked darn hard.'

She said she wished Kingshott could clean up the mess 'one shovelful at a time' so he could understand the consequences.

'I hope your dreams take you there every night.'

At the time he started the fire, Kingshott was unemployed and essentially homeless, either living out of his car or at friends' homes.

Prosecutor Ludovic Gouaillier noted the arson tore 'the fabric of their family,' as it involved Kingshott, who was 'almost like family.'

Both he and territorial prosecutor Lee Kirkpatrick condemned Kingshott's supplying of alcohol to the young people he then took to Marsh Lake.

'He was the adult,' said Gouaillier. 'He drove them out, supplied them with alcohol, watched them drink that alcohol.'

Kirkpatrick noted the courts deal daily with young people in trouble with the law because of alcohol and with adults who started drinking at a young age.

'There are always Mr. Kingshott's to supply them with liquor,' she said. 'The underlying fuel was the alcohol supplied by Mr. Kingshott.'

She asked Faulkner to give Kingshott three months' jail for the Liquor Act conviction. The defence suggested one month would be more appropriate and argued it was the young person's anger at the homeowners and not booze that 'fuelled' the arson.

Kingshott's criminal record includes other property offences, and he has a low level of education and no close friends.

Reports before the court suggest he may have lit fires as a youth and has a history of substance abuse.

A stint in a federal penitentiary after a 1992 conviction gave him access to the help he needed to stay out of trouble, said defence Gordon Coffin, noting it was nearly a decade until Kingshott was before the courts again.

The man is willing to make amends and has indicated he feels badly about what he's done, the defence lawyer continued.