A former Bradford teacher who was said to have "used fire as a personal weapon" has been jailed for her latest arson attack.

In May 2003, Bradford Crown Court heard how Amina Ditta had set fire to a temporary classroom at Atlas Primary School in Manningham, Bradford, where she then worked. She was given a community penalty for that offence.

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

She was also quizzed by police about fires at another school where she had worked, Pudsey Tyersal Primary, but no charges were brought.

Bradford Crown Court was told that in June last year she set a friend's car alight and two weeks later started a fire inside her own flat in Huddersfield.

She told police her home had been targeted by vandals, but admitted afterwards she had used paper soaked in vegetable oil to start the fire herself.

Ditta, 27, of Glastonbury Drive, Milnsbridge, pleaded guilty at the same court to charges of arson, criminal damage and wasting police time. Judge Roger Scott imposed a sentence for public protection, which means she will serve a minimum of 18 months behind bars before being considered for parole. After her release she will be on licence for a minimum of ten years.

The judge said Ditta posed "a very considerable danger to the public and anyone who crosses her."

He told her: "You are prepared, clearly, to use fire as a personal weapon to assist you in whatever you want to do."

Stephen Wood, prosecuting, said Ditta had met a local journalist, Arshad Rachyal, and on the night of June 21 she used a kitchen knife to slash all four tyres on his Mercedes car.

She then placed pieces of paper under each wheel and tried to set light to them, but the wind blew them out.

She went back there the next night, having equipped herself with a can of petrol, and splashed fuel over the car before igniting it with lit pieces of paper. The car, valued at £1,700, was destroyed.

In the early hours of July 7, Ditta went downstairs from her first-floor flat and poured vegetable oil over some A4 paper. She then posted it through her letterbox and lit another piece of paper before pushing it through onto the carpet inside. The material was allowed to burn until the smoke detector sounded and Ditta poured a bucket of water over the fire. She called the police and told officers people acting maliciously had pushed the items through her letterbox.

As a result of her false information, 11 hours of police time was wasted, said Mr Wood.

During interview, Ditta said Mr Rachyal was attempting to write a story about her life even though she had asked him not to pursue it. She said she started the first fire in an attempt to "take his mind away from the story."

Sophie Drake, mitigating, said Ditta had had a troubled and abused childhood. An expert had concluded that she was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Rachyal had befriended her and before she knew he was a journalist she had confided in him about her childhood troubles. He then said he wanted to write a story about her and a Channel 4 documentary was mentioned.

She repeatedly asked him not to pursue the story and in desperation set fire to his car. When that failed, she started a small fire in her own flat.

"She wanted police attention so he would stop writing the story," said Miss Drake. "She is not a bad person -- she is somebody who is isolated from her community, who is vulnerable."

Judge Scott told the court: "Journalists in the United Kingdom are entitled to write about what they like and should not be the subject of attacks on their personal possessions."