A troubled 20-year-old woman set fire to a Victorian terraced house where other people lived.... because she was having a bad day!

Gloomy Stephanie Dennis torched clothes inside her locked flat in Folkestone – as boyfriend Matthew Slade desperately tried to get inside.

Eventually other residents in Radnor Park Road forced their way inside to find Dennis surrounded by flames and refusing to leave.

She was later confronted by a police officer and told him: “I started a fire.. .because I was having a sh-t day!”

But a judge heard that Dennis later claimed she had turned arsonist because she wasn’t being allowed to marry.

Judge Simon James told her: “There is no clear reason why you locked yourself in the room. Whether this was an attempt by you on your life or a cry for help is rather difficult to fathom.”

Dennis, who is also known as Stephanie Mayer, pleaded guilty to recklessly starting the fire in October last year.

Prosecutor Simon Stirling said the house had been converted into six bedsits, five of which were occupied at the time of the fire.

He told Canterbury Crown Court that Mr Slade, who had already put out one fire started by Dennis, left the flat but when he returned was locked out.

Other residents, smelling smoke, broke into the flat and managed to put out the flames, which were “at waist height “, before the fire brigade arrived.

Dennis had started two fires inside the flat and although the flames were spreading, she initially resisted attempts to pull her clear, the court heard.

"You were clearly depressed but you were so absorbed by your own problems you gave little or no thought to the consequences of your actions to others" - Judge Simon James

Mr Stirling added: “Mr Slade had told other residents that Dennis was going mad and throwing things.

"The precise cause of her distress was not entirely clear although she did say later that she was being prevented from marrying her boyfriend.”

The fire caused £1,200 worth of damage to the flat but no-one was hurt, said the prosecutor.

But the judge heard that Dennis – who has a previous conviction for making a threat to burn down another house – was suffering from a mental illness classed as ICD-10 or “Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder”, which psychiatrists believe can be treated.

He ordered her to remain in hospital until experts believe it is safe for her to return into the community.

Judge James told her: “You were clearly depressed but you were so absorbed by your own problems you gave little or no thought to the consequences of your actions to others.

“But the facts are these premises were in multiple occupancy and your actions put at risk entirely innocent people.

“Fortunately because of the prompt action of your neighbours, it not only saved you from injury but also saved others as they were able to put out the fire before it got hold and cause more damage.”