A SUICIDAL man who was rescued from the roof of his blazing home in Okehampton has been jailed for starting a fire which killed his pet dog.

Exeter Crown Court last Thursday (November 20) heard that John Mulholland was depressed after his partner had left him. He lit candles under the sofa and went to bed with the intention of never waking up.

He was woken by the distressed whining of his Staffordshire bull terrier Buster, who he thought was safely out of the house when he started the blaze.

Neighbours were evacuated as firefighters rescued Mulholland from the roof and recovered his dying dog from the inside of the rented property.

 The fire caused around £50,000 damage and left his estranged partner temporarily homeless and with £2,000 of personal property destroyed.

Mulholland, formerly of North Street, Okehampton, but now living in Hood Road, Widnes, admitted arson and was jailed for 18 months by Judge Phillip Wassall.

The judge told him: 'You were extremely fortunate to have been rescued. It would not have been long before this fire would have taken hold, spread to other properties and possibly killed you.

'You were affected by clinical depression at the time. Your thinking was inhibited by depression but the fact is this fire caused £50,000 damage and caused a substantial risk of serious harm to others.'

Brian Fitzherbert, prosecuting, said Mulholland was upset after his partner told him she was leaving him on the morning of the fire in August last year.

He called a former girlfriend who became worried for his welfare because he said goodbye and told her she would not see him again.

She went to his home in North Street, Okehampton, where she alerted the emergency services after smelling burning.

Mr Fitzherbert said: 'It became clear the fire was started deliberately when the defendant approached a fire officer and told him he lit it and had wanted to kill himself.'

Nick Bradley, defending, said Mulholland was in a state of mental turmoil at the time but had since responded to treatment and was working as a driver.

He said his liberty had already been restricted by being on a tagged curfew for most of the past 15 months and he had suffered the anguish of awaiting sentence for all that time.