AN ARSONIST who barricaded himself in his flat and set his hallway on fire pleaded with firemen to rescue his neighbours.

At Bolton Crown Court Lee Kelly was jailed for 30 months after admitting arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Juliet Berry, prosecuting, told how the fire service received a phone call from 31-year-old Kelly at 2am on June 17.

Kelly, who has mental health problems, had imagined men were after him, had piled items up near his front door and set them alight as a deterrent.

But when the fire got out of control at the flat in The Croft, Haydock Street, he rang the emergency services for help.

“He said he was not bothered about himself but wanted neighbours to be rescued,” said Miss Berry.

Fire crews who arrived on the scene tried to persuade him to leave his fifth floor flat by the window, but he refused.

Instead the firefighters had to make their way through the smoke filled area outside Kelly’s top floor flat and remove a metal door to reach him.

Miss Berry added that firefighters also had to break down the door of neighbour Paul Denton, who was asleep at the time.

In a statement, Mr Denton said: “I was petrified as I didn’t know what was happening.”

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson commented: “The fire had the potential to spread and affect the whole block if it hadn’t been dealt with.”

The court heard that Kelly has previous convictions for dishonesty and violence.

But Mark Friend, defending stressed: “At the time of this incident the defendant was significantly affected by his mental health issues.”

The afternoon before the fire he had been discharged from hospital.

“He is remorseful at putting others at risk,” added Mr Friend.

Sentencing Kelly, Judge Clayson told him: “The phone call that you made demonstrates that, at that time, your mental health was not good. You were saying to the operator that men were after you and that you barricaded yourself in the flat and you’d set a fire in the hallway

“Not only were residents put at risk, but also the fire officers who attended. It is absolutely clear that your thinking was, to a degree, distorted.The level of risk to others was considerable.”

He added: “I hope that, when you are released, sufficient measures can be put in place to ensure you are stable so nothing like this happens again.”