A TEENAGE arsonist who was at risk of starting more fires was jailed for three and a half years yesterday.

Gareth Dunn, 18, set fire to a woman's bungalow after torching a garage on the same street two years before.

He was arrested drinking in a nearby park and he told police that the latest attack was just a prank, said Robin Turton, prosecuting.

Dunn had called at the home of Ann Wigham, 57, in Millfield Road, Fishburn, trying to sell her a table but she refused to open the door, said Mr Turton.

He tried to kick the door open and Miss Wigham, who had known him since he was five-years-old, called the police, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Dunn then put lighted paper through a ventilation duct, which damaged the living room carpet, skirting board and wallpaper. Miss Wigham managed to extinguish the fire using a bowl of water.

Dunn had a previous conviction for arson in September 2002, when he built a fire next to a garage on the same road, which also damaged a vehicle inside.

Robert Terry, mitigating, said that Dunn had learning difficulties and he had been the victim of bullying. His mother had kicked him out of the family home and he was getting drunk every day. He had spent six months in custody and his mother and stepfather were willing to offer him a home when he was released.

Judge George Moorhouse said: "It is quite clear from the psychiatric report and pre-sentence report that there is a real risk of further offences."

Dunn, from Fishburn, but with no fixed address was sent to a young offenders' institution for three-and-a-half years after he pleaded guilty to reckless arson on September 25 last year.

He was formally found not guilty of arson with intent to endanger life, a charge which he had denied.