A WOMAN who started a fire on the 17th floor of a town centre tower block was hallucinating, thinking she had visitors at the time of the blaze.

Sharon Fry told police she threw methylated spirits about and it caught light because the people she thought were in her flat in the David Murray John tower were smoking.

A judge has put off passing sentence on the 54-year-old to find what was behind her mental state at the time of the fire.

Recorder Michael Vere-Hodge QC, sitting at Swindon Crown Court yesterday, heard the hallucination may have been brought on by withdrawal from alcohol.

Fry, who had lived in her flat in the David Murray John building for about 15 years, started the blaze at about 8am on July 9.

The fire brigade was alerted by the automatic alarms in the tower block and by calls from the public, and found the door to her flat open.

When they went inside they were confronted by a serious fire and the internal doors were closed, with Fry sheltering from the smoke on her balcony.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, said £10,000 of damage was caused to her flat, coupled with £29,000 damage from the effect of smoke to a neighbouring property and the communal areas.

He said she gave ‘a somewhat disturbing, rambling’ account of what happened to start the fire.

“She had some people making themselves comfortable in her flat. She had thrown some methylated spirits about,” he said.

“Because they were smoking it was obvious it would catch light, she said. She must have been hallucinating. She accepted that. She must have started the fire.”

Mr Meeke said the council also lost £2,000 of rent while repair work was carried out, making the total cost to the authority £41,000.

Fry, of East Street, admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Rob Ross, defending, said a psychiatric report had already been compiled on his client but it had not been established what caused her to start the fire.

He said she needed to see the community mental health team to see if they would be able to help, as well as having another meeting with the psychiatrist.

The judge said: “My reading of it is she was unwell. Why she was that unwell and hallucinating has not yet been established.

“Anybody would understand how dangerous it is to set light to any building, let alone a block of flats. This was a significant fire, it is not like it was a little fire in a wastepaper basket.”

He said the cause of her hallucinations ‘may be the manifestation of withdrawal from alcohol’.

The judge adjourned the case to allow her to seek more help and see the psychiatrist to try to find what was happening to her in the build up to the fire.

She was released on bail on condition she does not go to the David Murray John building and co-operates with the making of the report.

Five fire crews, including one from Devizes, were called to the landmark building and 30 people were evacuated from their flats.

While the lower four floors are used for office space, 72 flats occupy the other 17 floors of the building.