A TENANT who took revenge on a noisy neighbour by setting fire to his front door has avoided jail.

Arsonist James Thake was so fed up with the loud music being played he lost control at the South Essex Homes property in Mornington House, Westcliff.

Thake, now of Sutton Road, Southend admitted arson and was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court yesterday.

Charlotte Davison, prosecuting, said: “He lived on the third floor and had made a number of complaints about his neighbour.

“On January 4, at about 2.28am he called South Essex Homes to make a complaint about his neighbour’s music.

“He called police to tell them he had been tortured by loud music and the council wasn’t doing anything about it and the neighbour was making his life a misery.

“He could be seen on CCTV walking around the area with paper, a bottle of fluid and a long lighter.

“He called South Essex Homes at 3.19am to say he had set the building on fire and it would fill with smoke and the alarms would not sound.”

Ms Davidson told the court the cause of the fire was deliberate but there was no combustible materials in the area or chance of it spreading.

Ian Clift, mitigating said: “Police attended the housing block and said the noise level was obscene and that was on one morning, but Thake put up with that for eight months.

“He does have a history of mental vulnerability with some form of personality disorder.”

The neighbour was in the home at the time of the fire but the Crown Prosecution Service did not pursue a more serious charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

Judge Samantha Leigh said she understood he was “at his wits end” when the fire was started.

Despite the seriousness of the offence Thake walked away from court with a community order for 18 months.

He has been ordered to complete 60 days of rehabilitation activities.

He was also ordered to pay £1,320 for the damage to the door.

A spokesman for South Essex Homes said: “We are pleased that positive action has been taken in this case. We can confirm we did work with both residents leading up to this event, to try and resolve the issues. This included holding meetings, monitoring equipment being installed and visits from the security patrol, alongside South Essex Homes team members.”