A DRUG crazed yob who almost wiped out a family in a fire before engaging in a stand-off with police while he hurled tiles off a roof has had his sentence cut by appeal court judges.

Nathan Michael Young was ordered to serve a minimum of seven and-a-half years before being considered for parole after being given an indeterminate sentence at Teesside Crown Court last July for arson with intent to endanger life and affray.

But Lord Justice McCombe, sitting with Mr Justice Stewart and Judge Alistair McCreath at the Court of Appeal, in London, said the correct minimum was five years and seven months and the original tariff had been excessive.

Young, 25, of Hartington Road, Stockton, used a petrol can to set fire to a house where he had been staying in Rydal Road, Darlington.

The Northern Echo:

A police mugshot of Nathan Young

It caused an explosion and a raging fire, which caused £20,000 worth of damage and killed a Staffordshire bull terrier dog.

But Young wasn't finished, running to the Majestic soft play centre, in nearby Bondgate, where he set another fire on an upstairs floor.

He then brought the town centre to a standstill as he threw tiles and bricks from the roof at police officers and their vehicles in the street below.

The Northern Echo:

Nathan Young during the rooftop incident in Darlington

A police officer, PC Bitoo Kumar was recommended for a commendation after he talked Young into giving himself up.

The 56-year-old tenant of the Rydal Road property, whose son was a friend of Young, later said he had been close to killing her family.

She said: “The fire is constantly on my mind. I have nightmares and I wake up screaming. I feel subdued.

“The biggest loss is Charlie [the dog]. The whole family loved him dearly.”

In sentencing Young last August, Judge Michael Taylor said he acted like a “madman” and posed a considerable danger to life and limb.

Young has more than 100 criminal offences on his record and was convicted of a robbery aged just 13.

He was said to have been on a three day “drugs bender” and had not slept before starting the house fire in an under-stairs cupboard.

His lawyer told his sentencing hearing that he had a low IQ and was unable to give any explanation for his actions in April last year.