A DANGEROUS arsonist was responsible for a “fire-starting spree” over the course of one night in which homes and a car were targeted, a court was told.

Andrew Derbyshire, 22, is accused of starting five fires near his home in Stanley, County Durham, on the evening of February 14 last year.

On the basis of medical evidence, he has been declared unfit to plead by Judge Howard Crowson as he suffers from autism.

So, unusually, the jury at Teesside Crown Court has been told to decide simply whether he did the acts and not whether he is criminally culpable.

Prosecuting, Paul Newcombe said “overwhelming” circumstantial evidence pointed towards Mr Derbyshire as being responsible for the arsons, some with an intent to danger life.

He said his DNA was found on top of a bread basket which had been placed on top of a bin which had been set alight and pushed up to the front door of a bungalow.

A picture was also found on his mobile phone of one of the fires, “no doubt proud of his handiwork”, said Mr Newcombe.

The jury was told that texts sent by Mr Derbyshire, of Cheviot Terrace, to a friend confirmed he was not at home that night.

One said: “I haven’t got a clue what time I got back in the house because I was smashed.”

A sofa left out by a householder for collection was destroyed in one of the fires and a lit magazine placed under the wheel arch of a Vauxhall Astra, damaging the vehicle.

Mr Newcombe said bins were also set alight in another incident and had melted leaving just pools of plastic, while a fence was also damaged.

He said: “The fires were in a short space of time in the same area which is a short walk away from the defendant’s home.

“What are the chances perhaps that it just so happened there was another crazed arsonist also out that night in the same area?

“It is clear that it was the same person that started each of these five fires and in some cases there was a pattern in the way they were first started and repeated.

“The prosecution say these fires were started by a dangerous arsonist who was engaged in a dangerous fire starting spree.”

The trial continues.