Marion frontman Jaime Harding has been sent to jail in the United Kingdom after setting fire to his girlfriend’s clothes.
The embattled 41-year-old musician — who as singer of the Macclesfield rock band found success in the ’90s during the height of Britpop, but who in recent years has battled drug addition, depression, and health issues — has been given a sentence of two years and eight months.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Harding used a cigarette lighter on February 2 to intentionally torch either one or two dresses belonging to his girlfriend after she did not return his phone calls. Harding then had to call the fire service when the blaze got out of control and he could not extinguish it. Records state he admitted to the arson at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
Earlier this week, Marion’s management, Le Mépris, announced through the band’s Facebook page the sudden cancellation of several planned reunion shows this fall, saying that Harding has been arrested for drugs and incarcerated at Manchester prison Strangeways. The note came with word that Marion were next month re-issuing their two studio albums on vinyl, the UK Top 10 selling debut album This World and Body and Johnny Marr-produced follow-up, The Program.
However, on Friday night, a much more grim picture surfaced, with news that Harding had been involved in the arson incident.
A spokesman for Le Mépris Management told the Manchester Evening News:
“Jaime was in the midst of a deep depression and also under the influence of various substances. Jaime has suffered from depression and drug addiction for over 20 years. Unfortunately, following the death of Marion’s original manager, Jaime’s father-figure, Joe Moss in October last year, Jaime plunged into a deep depression due to his bereavement, which continued into this year and culminated in this incident.
Jaime set fire to a dress in the bedroom of his flat and then in panic immediately put it out with damp towels. Unfortunately, around an hour later the smoke alarm rang and Jaime was alarmed to find that rather than being fully extinguished, the fire had actually been smouldering and the bedroom was now filled with smoke. At this point, Jaime alerted the fire services and was told to evacuate the building.”
Marion performed at Glastonbury in 1995 and has shared the stage with the likes of Morrissey, Radiohead, and the Manic Street Preachers. The group broke up in 1999, reportedly due to Harding’s addiction to heroin. Guitarist Phil Cunningham joined New Order three years later, and still plays with the group.
In a 2011 column for the Boston Phoenix, writer David Thorpe detailed Harding’s constant troubles with drug addiction after Marion’s popularity began to fade in the late ’90s.
With several reunion efforts under his belt in recent years, Harding was planning to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Marion’s 1996 debut album This World And Body with a string of shows this fall in the UK, though it was unclear which, if any, original members were taking part. Those gigs have obviously been cancelled.