AN arsonist put the lives of two families at risk when he set fire to rubbish in the early hours of the morning.

Drug-addled Gareth Salt made a determined effort to start the blaze and waited and watched until it took hold.

When the flames got to a dangerous level, he woke one of the householders and told her he had chased the culprits and called the fire brigade.

He claimed to have seen some young children start the fire, gave a false name and left.

The householder rang the emergency services – Salt had not – and the blaze was tackled as smoke started coming through the loft.

The woman and her husband had been asleep and their three-year-old son was also in bed.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the flames had licked up a wall, melted guttering, damaged fascias and set the roof alight.

Next door, a drainpipe and window frame were damaged at a house where a couple and their toddler were asleep.

Salt loitered around the area on the Berwick Hills estate in Middlesbrough, and even spoke to one of the firefighters, who became suspicious about his behaviour.

The 38-year-old was arrested and denied being responsible, although CCTV from one of the houses showed him try twice to light the rubbish.

He is now starting a prison sentence of three years and eight months after pleading guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Judge Howard Crowson said it had been a determined effort to start the fire, and described the blaze as “ferocious”.

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said Salt had an unstable personality disorder, and had been affected by sleeping tablets.

“The offence itself appears to have been impulsive. He maintains he has no memory of the incident or his motivation. It does not appear to have been a targeted attack.

“It appears to have been in his intoxicated state, the sight of the rubbish attracted his attention and he decided to light it.”

The parents of the three-year-old were in court to see Salt jailed, and in a statement, the mother said: “It doesn’t bear thinking about what might have happened if I had not woken in time.”

Her neighbour in Crossfell Road said: “I can’t help thinking how close we came to losing our lives.”

Both women told how they now no longer feel safe, have trouble sleeping, constantly check windows and worry about leaving the house.

Mr Turton told Judge Crowson: “He deeply regrets his actions, and is ashamed of what he has done.

“He is thankful that matters were nipped in the bud, whether by his intervention or not.”

The judge told Salt, of Parliament Road, Middlesbrough: “It was a very determined effort to start the fire. It didn’t catch at first, so you returned.

“It was at night, so it is likely the occupants would not be aware it had started. If the worst had happened, they would never have been aware.”

  • Clarification: The initial version of this story carried a photo of the wrong man. We showed a picture of Norman Lowes, who had been sentenced the same day after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm and threatening a person with a blade. We apologise for any confusion.