A security guard who started three fires at Bradford Cathedral causing damage estimated at £30,000 has been jailed for two and a half years.

After his arrest David Simpson could not give police a clear explanation for the late-night arson attack.

But the 25-year-old, who had converted to Islam, said he had been upset about the massacres involving Muslims in East Timor and Chechnya.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how Simpson got drunk while he was supposed to be guarding a construction site near the Cathedral and took paraffin with him to start the fires.

Prosecutor Edward Bindloss described how three stained-glass windows had been broken before the paraffin was poured in and lighted newspaper pushed through.

A smoke alarm alerted Catherdal staff living nearby, including the Provost, the Very Reverend John Richardson, and he and his colleagues were confronted by a mass of smoke when they entered the building.

Mr Bindloss said honorary chaplain Reverend Martin Short stamped out a small fire in a robing room and robes and other garments were removed in an effort to prevent smoke damage to them.

As a result of the fires, damage was caused to various items of Cathedral furnishings and property including Bibles, tapestries, altar clothing and Communion linen.

So far more than £6,000 has been spent on repairs and cleaning, but the estimated bill for the total amount of damage is put at £30,000.

Simpson, a married man, of Princeville Street, Bradford, was arrested about 10 days after the incident in January and immediately admitted being responsible for the arson attack.

He said he had no grudge against the Cathedral or its staff, but conceded that alcohol had impaired his judgement.

Mr Bindloss said Simpson admitted that he had been reading about the massacres in East Timor and Chechnya and had become emotional about them.

Simpson's barrister Stephen Wood stressed that it was not a case of his client had gone out to target the Cathedral for religious reasons.

"He got very drunk and he behaved extraordinarily foolishly and recklessly," conceded Mr Wood.

"There is in the cold light of day remorse for what he did."

Judge Roger Scott said he was giving Simpson full credit for his early guilty plea to the arson, but he noted that he did have two previous convictions for criminal damage on his record.

He said Simpson had been drinking to drown his sorrows but he was not sure whether that was to do with the incidents in other parts of the world or his own family problems.

Judge Scott said it was fortunate that the alarm activated at the Cathedral and he praised the staff for their efforts in restricting the amount of damage caused by the fires.

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