A FORMER nun is to appear in court for sentencing next week after admitting two arson attacks, including one at a North-East hospital.

Philippa Carruth, who set fire to her flat in Darlington and a room at the town's Memorial Hospital, will learn her fate at Teesside Crown Court on Friday.

The 44-year-old, who spent 16 years at Darlington's Carmelite Convent, is in hospital at Durham Prison.

At a hearing on September 15, she admitted that she started the two fires earlier this year.

Fire crews were called to her ground floor flat in Darlington on January 31 after Carruth had tried to catch the attention of a passer-by by setting a wastepaper bin alight.

The living room was severely damaged and other residents of the block of four flats had to be evacuated.

Carruth was subsequently admitted to the psychiatric ward of Darlington Memorial Hospital for treatment but, on March 3, she also set fire to her room there.

A spokesman for her solicitors, Cohen's of Darlington, said they could not comment because of confidentiality issues but confirmed that she had admitted the charges.

In July 1990, in an unprecedented move, the convent allowed The Northern Echo to witness her taking her final vows in front of family and friends.

Glasgow-born Carruth had trained as a psychiatric nurse but entered Carmel in 1985, where she studied and prayed to become a nun.

She left the community two years ago.