A SERIAL arsonist who could have wiped out the occupants of a multiple-occupancy building was yesterday given an extended sentence to protect the public.

David Gorley's ten-tear term will include six years of custody and an extended four-year period on licence after his release for the blaze in Consett.

Gorley was jailed in 2000 for a double arson attack when he set fire to a hostel after a row with fellow residents, and then started one at a vet's surgery.

Judge Tony Briggs told the 35-year-old: "The real worry for the public in the future is that there is a tendency for you to do things that cause extreme danger.

"I regret to say I view you as a person well within the category of dangerousness, and, therefore, someone who should attract an extended sentence.

"If you are unwise enough to offend in this way again after completing the custodial element of your sentence, the sentence is likely to be an indefinite one."

Teesside Crown Court heard how the blaze was started in a bedsit room in Aynsley Terrace following a burglary there in the early hours of May 8 this year.

The occupant was away, and others living in the converted end-terrace property were alerted by smoke alarms and fled, said Robin Turton, prosecuting.

Gorley, of Beverley Gardens, Consett, was arrested after he was seen acting suspiciously near a nearby wheelie-bin - and a stolen lap-top, cello, television and camera were found inside.

He admitted breaking into the property with another, but denied setting fire to it to cover his tracks. He was found guilty of reckless arson after a trial in July.

Judge Briggs told Gorley that the only thing that saved the other occupants - all Czech, Polish and Tunisian - was the smoke alarm going off to wake them.

He described the fire-starter as "an extremely intelligent enigma" and said his mental health problems and drug abuse created a lethal concoction.

Donald McFaul, mitigating, said Gorley had studied throughout his life "with diligence and an enquiring mind" and said he lived an unconventional life.

As well as his academic success, the defendant also spent time looking 

Judge Briggs said: "When fires are set and take hold and seriously injure or kill, it is not a great deal of comfort to those who suffer that the person has personal problems."