A MAN who set fire to his bungalow home at Sandford has been jailed for three years and four months. Appearing before Exeter Magistrates, Steven Dykes (63), also known as Paulio Sauluae, admitted arson being reckless whether life was endangered at St Swithun's Gardens in Sandford, on March 31 last year. Mr Dykes was said to be a disgruntled council tenant and after setting light to his home piled his possessions on his invalid buggy and set off for a new life. The court was told Dykes developed a hatred for his one bedroomed bungalow and caused £20,000 damage after piling up furniture and setting light to it. An elderly couple who lived next door in the terrace had to leave their home while firefighters tackled the blaze. He tried to make the low-speed getaway on his invalid carriage but was stopped as he left the village with his personal belongings heaped on top of it. He said he did not know anyone in the village and thought his neighbours were bullying him. As he fled on his buggy he told a neighbour: "I'm fed up with the council and this council house and people like you." Dykes said he had spent much of his recent life travelling the waterways of Britain on a narrowboat but was allocated the council bungalow after suffering mental illness. He had been found wandering in fields shortly before the fire and his dog had been removed by council wardens while he was treated in hospital. He has subsequently been diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia but was not considered eligible to be sent to a mental hospital because he refused to be treated. Dykes was sentenced by Judge Paul Darlow at Exeter Crown Court. He told him: "You caused £20,000 damage to the public housing stock. You did not like it but there are others who would be quite happy to have a roof over their heads." Mr Terry Holder, prosecuting, said Dykes removed the smoke alarm and started fires in the lounge and bedroom of the bungalow and chose not to activate an alarm pendant he wore around his neck. Neighbour Mr Keith Mason met him in the street outside at about 6.30pm and could see flames through the window. Mr Holder said: "Dykes told him: 'I'm fed up with the council and this council house and people like you'." He began shouting and swearing and got on his mobility scooter which appeared to be loaded with his property. "Mr Mason alerted the neighbours, who left their premises and said they had heard Dykes banging about in his property 45 minutes earlier. "About 8pm Dykes was stopped by police. He smelled strongly of smoke and there was a sooty covering of his clothes and mobility scooter." Mr Jeremy Harris, defending, said Dykes has spent almost a year at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish but has been assessed as not being eligible for a Mental Health Act disposal. He said he has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, which will need to be treated both inside jail and on his release. He said his client could not recall starting the fire but has always accepted his guilt. Mr Harris said: "There was some level of discontentment on his behalf in relation to his accommodation. He felt isolated, coupled with a belief there was bullying from his neighbours. "It distressed him and it appears to have led to an incident not long before in which he left his home and was found wandering in the fields and was airlifted to hospital suffering from hypothermia. "He said he was fed up with his accommodation and wanted to become homeless. He was seen by the psychiatric service but deemed fit to return home."