A woman checked her housemates were asleep before dousing her bedroom with petrol and sending it up in flames.

Sabine Mossie, 23, used the accelerant to start a life-threatening inferno shortly before midnight at the property in Hawkesbury Street, Dover.

As the fire raged, her flatmates woke with smoke pouring from her bedroom door and the alarm system ringing out.

One discovered Mossie sitting calmly in front of the blaze at their home in St Martin’s House, which contains 10 flats.

After the emergency services were alerted, firefighters worked to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby areas.

Sean Glanfield, who rushed into Mossie’s room, discovered her sitting near the fire before she said “'sorry' and walked out”, prosecutors said.

Saffron Boyd told the court of the trauma she experienced following that fateful night.

The fire resulted in Mossie’s bedroom becoming entirely charred, with part of the hallway also damaged.

Miss Boyd said Mossie “waited until we were asleep”, even checking whether her housemates were awake on a number of occasions before triggering the ignition.

She described her former friend’s room as “completely black and burned”.

“It was so traumatic - everything I cared about was in that building,” she said.

“I don’t understand how she could be so calm - she just walked out.”

“It was so traumatic - everything I cared about was in that building..."

Mossie, of Dover, was handed a deferred prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday after admitting her actions.

Dressed in black, and supported by friends and family in the public gallery, she appeared distraught as Miss Boyd’s victim impact statement was read out.

Eleanor Scott-Davies, prosecuting, told the court “multiple people (were) endangered” and highlighted Mossie’s “use of an accelerant” during the ordeal on February 2 this year.

Mossie, who has no previous convictions, was arrested shortly afterwards and pleaded guilty to arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered at an early opportunity.

Representing Mossie, Nadia Semlali said she has since sought therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and emotional instability traits.

Ms Semlali argued Mossie’s actions were an attempt on her own life, adding she will undergo further “intense therapy” starting in the New Year.

She told the judge locking Mossie up immediately would remove the support she has sought and “[custody] will have a huge impact on her.”

Judge Mark Weekes told Mossie, of Prescott Close, he would defer sentencing for six months, prompting her to quietly reply: “Thank you.”

He ordered Mossie to comply with a strict four-point plan as part of the deferral, including committing no further offences, living at her mum’s address and attending therapy sessions.

Handing down a 10-year restraining order preventing Mossie from contacting Miss Boyd, he added: “If you don’t comply with them then you have no-one to blame but yourself.”