A teacher who set fire to her own classroom was quizzed by police about fires at another school where she worked.

Amina Ditta - who admitted setting light to a classroom at Atlas Primary School, Manningham - was questioned by detectives about similar incidents at Pudsey Tyersal Primary after the head teacher shared his suspicions with officers.

She spent six weeks at the Tyersal school on teaching practice as part of her teaching qualification from Bradford College.

During her stint - when she failed to impress school leaders - two suspicious fires broke out on the site and children had to be evacuated from the school.

Police were called, but did not have enough evidence to bring charges and no-one was prosecuted.

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Telegraph & Argus, Ditta, of Scholemoor Road, Scholemoor, Bradford, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to a community rehabilitation order and will have to perform 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a charge of arson with intent to destroy or damage school property, or being reckless as to whether such property would be destroyed.

The court was told that she had had "a dreadful life". It is understood that one of her difficulties related to an arranged marriage.

A psychiatric report indicated that she was suffering from a major depressive disorder at the time of the offence.

The charge related to a fire at the Lincoln Close primary school in April last year when a security guard saw a flash inside the classroom and found the blaze by the teacher's desk.

The school had suffered a number of suspicious fires but Ditta was only charged with one.

Since her arson attack on the inner city Atlas Primary was discovered, detectives re-examined the earlier fires and said there were striking similarities between them and the spate of incidents at Atlas.

They arrested and questioned Ditta, but no charges were brought.

The trainee was placed at Pudsey Tyersal School, Tyersal Walk, for her practice - an essential element of gaining a teaching qualification. While she was there, a fire broke out in a classroom as children were filing into assembly.

Staff activated emergency procedures and managed to evacuate the whole school in a minute and a half. The classroom was severely smoke-damaged.

In the second incident, a folder containing 24-year-old Ditta's Personal Development Profile was set on fire in a stock room.

Detective Constable Richard Baildon, of Bradford North CID, said: "The first fire resulted in an entire classroom being rebuilt. It could have been very much more serious."

Clive Price, head teacher at Pudsey Tyersal Primary, recalled that Ditta was an inadequate student. "She was not a strong candidate and she did not successfully fulfil her teaching practice with us. What you are looking for are good control of a class and a rapport with the children. She didn't really have that."

He said suspicions were aroused when the folder charting her progress on the placement was set on fire and destroyed, the morning of a crucial meeting to discuss her performance.

"Later on in the day she was going to have a difficult meeting with the college tutor and course teacher. It would have been clear she was going to be told she was failing," he said

"We shared our suspicions with the police and let them judge. They weren't confident enough to make a case."

More recently, Ditta was arrested and spoken to with regard to both offences, but no charges were brought.

However police are not looking for anyone else in connection with either incident.

Mr Price said: "We are obviously relieved that this school and the children came through intact."

Beryl Powell, head teacher at Atlas Primary, said she had no reason to be suspicious of Ditta's past.

She said: "All the usual recruitment procedures were carried out and there were no foreseeable problems. I took up the two references provided, including one from Bradford College.

"Of course, 'Are you an arsonist?' is not one of the questions I normally ask at interview although it might become one."

Det Con Baildon said the case was one of the most unusual he had investigated.

"I don't think the motivation behind this will ever be known," he said.

A spokesman for Bradford College confirmed that Ditta was one of their students, but was prevented from providing any more details by the Data Protection Act.