AN arsonist who set a fire in her block of flats has been spared immediate custody after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Ann Hodgson showed no regard for the safety of the other 49 occupants of the flats in Darlington town centre when she started the fire in the shower basin of her flat, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 55-year-old was caught on CCTV wandering around the corridors of Regent House making minimal effort to alert other occupants as the fire started to take hold inside her flat.

Liam O’Brien, prosecuting, said luckily one of her neighbours heard Hodgson knocking on her door and alerted the emergency services as smoke started to spill out of the defendant’s room.

He said: "On seeing the smoke he was able to raise the fire brigade and they were able to respond promptly, arriving t the scene in a matter of minutes.

"By the time the firefighters entered the building thick, black smoke was billowing from the flat. The fire had begun to spread from the shower tray into the rest of her bathroom. Fortunately, the fire service were able to put it out before it spread further.

"The situation she created was one which put the lives of her fellow residents at risk. It goes without saying that if the fire brigade had not arrived as promptly, either because it took longer than it did for the fire to come to the attention of one of the residents or because they were dealing with an emergency elsewhere, the consequences could have been catastrophic."

Mr O'Brien said the fire caused £1,700 worth of damage to the flats.

Hodgson, of Prescott Street, Darlington, admitted a charge of arson being reckless whether life was endangered at an earlier hearing.

Stephen Hamill, in mitigation, said his client had already taken steps to address her mental health issues and alcohol dependency since her diagnosis of terminal cancer.

"This defendant has taken massive strides to address the underlying issues which culminated in this offending," he added.

"Her family has rallied around her and she has been engaged herself in community mental health service and to say she is different from how she was when I first met her would be an understatement."

Judge Deborah Sherwin acknowledged Hodgson's ill health as she passed a two-year custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months.

She said: "I accept that you are somebody who has had mental health problems, and problems with alcohol as well, and this offence was committed when you were at a very low ebb dealing with those problems.

"I'm sure you yourself, in the cold light of day, are horrified by just how dangerous this could have been, not just to yourself but to all the other people living in that block who could have been unsuspectingly injured as a result of it."