A BRITISH expat allegedly set a US politician on fire after a desperate bid to save his crumbling marriage collapsed, pals have claimed.

Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes, 29, is accused of dousing Danville City Council member Lee Vogler, 38, with gasoline and setting him alight inside his Virginia office on July 30.

Friends back in the UK say Buck-Hayes was “desperate to make it work” with wife Mary Alice Hayes after a “roller coaster” marriage that had veered toward divorce.

Longtime friend Cal Darcy told Cardinal News : “They agreed to do couples therapy.

“He loved her to bits and he was desperate to make it work.”

But Mary Alice filed for divorce in mid-July — just two weeks before the shocking attack, according to court documents.

Darcy added Buck-Hayes had been struggling with his m

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