A MENTALLY ill man who set fire to his flat after becoming agitated and angry told a judge it was cold in Leeds Prison because the heating was not turned on.

Harry Brown, 66, was in the jail on remand after lighting a blanket at his supported accommodation in Oakvale House, Halifax Road, Keighley, on June 5.

Bradford Crown Court heard that six residents had to be led to safety and three fire engines attended the blaze that was confined to one room.

Brown, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to reckless arson, criminal damage and common assault on a female support worker.

Prosecutor Jo Shepherd said he threw a brick through a door panel at the house and grabbed the staff member by the arm and made as if to punch her.

Brown’s solicitor advocate, Simon Hustler, said his client had suffered mental health problems for decades and had never troubled the courts before. He was basically sad and lonely and his hobby was visiting charity shops.

Brown was jailed for 10 months but he had already been in Leeds Prison for four months. Judge Jonathan Durham Hall said he would soon be released and he urged the local authority to find him a home because he should not be behind bars.

Brown said from the dock that he was cold in the prison because the heating had not yet been switched on.