by Keith Hunt

Faced with eviction from a hostel on bonfire night, Paul Goddard started a blaze in his room and then jumped out of a window, a court heard.

The 49-year-old alcoholic and drug addict had barricaded the door with furniture before setting light to a pile of bed linen at The Quays, in Crown Quay Lane, Sittingbourne.

Jailing Goddard for four years, a judge said the cost of the damage was more than £6,000, which the charitable trust could have spent on helping others.

He added that with nine months on remand to count towards the sentence, he hoped he would soon have a bright future “at the end of this dark tunnel”.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Goddard set up the barricade after being given notice to quit on November 5 last year.

Trevor Wright, prosecuting, said staff were unable to get access to his room the next morning and then saw smoke coming from underneath his door.

The building was evacuated and the fire brigade called.

Goddard claimed he had intended to kill himself, but then had a panic attack and leapt out of the window, injuring himself.

Judge James O’Mahony was told the notice to quit was the final straw. He had been suffering with mental health problems and was addicted to drink and drugs.

It had been the first time Goddard had been in prison and he wanted to make it the last time.

Passing sentence, the judge said: “I know you have had your problems, but you must not take them out on other people.

“If you have got yourself in a position where you have taken drink and drugs, and they have an effect on your personality, that is no one else’s fault but your own.”