An arsonist who torched a car lot, causing the owner to have a heart attack as he saw his business go up in flames, has been spared prison.

Chatham-based Regency Motor Company boss Eric Parish had to undergo surgery as a result and was fitted with a pacemaker.

The blaze in the early hours of March 25, 2015, caused thousands of pounds of damage and was said to have had a "huge impact" on the businessman’s health, well-being and finances.

But a judge told Tyler Turner that despite the seriousness of his offending, his record of previous convictions and the fact he was on bail for burglary at the time, she was “just persuaded” not to jail him.

Turner and a 13-year-old accomplice broke into the car firm and stole a safe containing £1,300 and 19 sets of car keys.

But before they fled with their loot, Turner set fire to the Portakabin office and the flames spread to cars parked on the forecourt.

Turner, of The Tideway, Rochester, also took a Land Rover Discovery from the forecourt in The Brook but crashed into a parked Vauxhall Astra.

Then aged 19, the court heard he sent a Facebook message to Mr Parish apologising, but blamed the teenager for starting the fire.

The stolen safe was found at Turner’s mum’s home in Canterbury Street, Gillingham.

The money had been split and spent on clothes and shopping.

Police also discovered a photo on Turner’s mobile of him with the boy, who was holding an aerosol and toilet roll, which demonstrated, said prosecutor Simon Sandford, “an interest in starting a fire”.

Maidstone Crown Court heard just two days before the arson attack Turner had been released on bail for another break-in.

His previous convictions include offences of assault, theft, disorderly behaviour, possessing cannabis, possessing an offensive weapon and four for burglary.

Turner, now 21, was convicted by a jury of the car lot arson but had pleaded guilty to burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.

Mr Parish had been running the car firm for 20 years when the arson attack occurred.

In a victim impact statement he described the huge impact it had had on his health, business and finances.

Summarising the effect, the prosecutor told the court: "While speaking to police he had a heart attack and was taken to hospital.

"He had never had one before and said it was brought on by the stress and anxiety of seeing his business in flames."

The court also heard that Mr Parish lost £30,000 in the four months after the blaze and had even had to go to the insurance ombudsman to settle his claim.

He has since been diagnosed with depression.

But despite what Recorder Sarah Elliott QC described as a “significant effect” on Mr Parish, Turner was given a two-year jail term suspended for two years.

She told him the fact he had not offended since March 2015 was in his favour.

"Your record brings you very, very close to going into prison but having considered everything I have read about you and the efforts made over the past two years to improve your life, I am just persuaded that a suspended sentence is appropriate in this case,” said the recorder.

"He had never had a heart attack before and said it was brought on by the stress and anxiety of seeing his business in flames" - prosecutor Simon Sandford

Sentencing had been adjourned after his trial for a psychiatric report.

Details of his mental health problems were not given in open court, but Turner’s barrister James Ross said his client “still needed help”.

Recorder Elliott therefore ordered, as part of his sentence, that he has mental health treatment.

Turner, formerly of Ryde Close, Princes Park, Chatham, was also banned from driving for 18 months.

Mr Ross said his client had since become a father and found “new responsibility and maturity” to life.

Turner’s co-defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced at an earlier hearing.

Now aged 15, he was acquitted of arson at the car company but admitted burglary and allowing himself to be carried in the stolen Land Rover.

He also pleaded guilty to six unrelated offences of arson after he torched several cars in the Walderslade area in the space of a few hours on April 29, 2015.

The teen was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order and banned from driving for a year.