A PATIENT from Stockton Hall, near York, has been jailed indefinitely for starting a fire on a ward at the psychiatric hospital.

Two nursing staff members, Nkosilathi Moyo and Steven Bull, won judge’s commendations for tackling the blaze which Joey Dunlop lit in his room with a stolen cigarette lighter.

Other patients and staff were on the ward at the time. York Crown Court heard that one patient was asleep and patients’ rooms could only be opened from the outside.

“Had it not been for the vigilance of the two members of staff, it could have been a tragedy,” said Chris Burn, prosecuting.

The fire occurred less than a year after another patient, Richard Cascarino, started a blaze that destroyed Fenton Ward at the medium secure hospital and caused £1.9 million of damage. Cascarino was also given an indeterminate prison sentence.

“You are a dangerous person,” Recorder Duncan Smith told Dunlop.

“My duty is, as a preventative measure, to protect the public and avoid a tragedy before it happens.”

He gave Dunlop an indeterminate prison sentence with a requirement that he serve at least three years and cannot be released until the Parole Board decide he is no longer a danger to the public.

Dunlop, 21, no fixed address, now in prison custody, pleaded guilty to arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

He had two previous convictions for arson.

Mr Dunn said patients were allowed hourly smoking breaks, but only if supervised and if a staff member lit their cigarettes.

On March 20, the cigarette lighter went missing from a pouch around the supervising member of staff’s pouch and a search failed to find it.

The next day, Dunlop was given a care treatment report that enraged him. With staff help, he calmed down and went to his room.

Minutes later the smoke alarm activated when he used the missing lighter to set his bed and mattress ablaze.

He also used paper torn from an Argos catalogue to begin the blaze.

Before starting the blaze, he had packed all his belongings in a laundry basket and stood waiting to be evacuated.

Mr Moyo and Mr Bull restricted the fire to Dunlop’s room, but Mr Bull had to be taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation that left him with a cough for some days.

David Temkin, mitigating, said Dunlop felt “more stable” now than he had for some time.