A SEVEN foot four inch tall giant who set fire to a domestic garage in Holywell, causing trauma to the owner, has been detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act.

The garage was gutted and its contents destroyed and the owner who was in hospital at the time had been badly affected, Mold Crown Court was told.

She feared that if she had been at home she could have been "burned alive" if the fire had spread.

The victim feared she had been targeted and that he would returned "to finish the job".

Richard Homan-Russell, 32, of Greenfield Road in Greenfield, admitted arson at an earlier hearing following the blaze in May of last year.

He admitted that he recklessly damaged by fire the garage belonging to Tracey Wilkes - his second arson conviction

Homan-Russell had been held in a secure unit in a South Wales psychiatric hospital, was making good progress and there was a place available for him there, the court heard.

Judge Nicolas Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court, said that based on the evidence of two registered medical practitioners he was satisfied that he should be detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act.

He suffered from a recognised condition for which treatment was available at The Heatherwood Hospital at Pontypridd, he said.

The judge said the defendant had been placed on supervision in 2014 for a previous arson charge.

It was a matter of significant concern that once again he had deliberately caused damage by fire, he said.

He had caused significant damage, "reducing the garage only fit for demolition".

Substantial contents inside the garage had been destroyed.

He quite understood how the owner had been left traumatised.

Potentially, he caused a significant risk of injury or worse to people who lived in the local community.

But in his circumstances it was appropriate that he be detained under the Mental Health Act for treatment at a secure unit.

Judge Parry said he had considered whether a restriction on his release was necessary, which was the view of one doctor initially.

But there had been a subsequent assessment of him, he had been receiving treatment and the up-to-date information provided on him meant that he could not say that it was necessary to protect the public from serious harm by imposing such a restriction.

"I accept that you are remorseful. You acted because of your own vulnerabilities," the judge told him.

Barrister Nicholas Williams, prosecuting, said the victim was in hospital at the time and her home at Nant Eos in Holywell was unoccupied. The garage contained household goods including furniture.

He said the defendant was someone she knew to say hello to but had not seen him for about a year.

At 4.30pm Homan-Russell was seen to get out of a taxi and a neighbour's CCTV caught him carrying cans up the drive.

He went into the garage and within three minutes smoke could be seen emanating from the building.

Firefighters attended and tackled the blaze while wearing breathing apparatus.

The contents had been 100 per cent destroyed and the garage roof 75 per cent destroyed.

He said: "The whole thing needed to be rebuilt."

About an hour and a half later he was spotted in Basingwerk Avenue with nothing on his feet.

He was out of breath, had clearly been running and he had muddy, wet socks.

Homan-Russell said he went to the garage for a smoke and had also defecated there. He then went for a walk to the hills to sober up.

Homan-Russell was allowed home for some reason and was arrested at his home later that night.

He said he went to the woman's house on the spur of the moment , smoked a cigarette in her garage and he said he thought he had stubbed his cigarette out.

Interviewed, he said he had drunk about 10 pints but denied deliberately setting the fire.

In a victim impact statement Miss Wilkes said she was devastated to find her garage burnt out.

It had affected her emotionally and physically, was normally out-going but now tended to hide herself away, too frightened to leave the house.

She felt she had been deliberately targeted and that it could have been a lot worse.

If she had been at home the fire could have spread from the garage to her home and she could have been burned alive.

She found herself anxious and on edge, checked the area and feared that he would return "and finish the job".

It seemed to have overwhelmed her life and she had become obsessed with safety and security.

She suffered mental health issues herself and the arson attack had set her back.

"I wish he could understand the massive i pact that his actions had had on my health and emotional wellbeing," she said.

The prosecutor said the previous arson dated back to 2014 when the defendant smashed a Jobcentre window and set fire to curtains.

Barrister Mark Connor, defending, said his client was progressing well in hospital after some issues for the first couple of weeks.

Reports on him showed a community order would not be appropriate and it was agreed he could be treated under a hospital order.

The treating doctor would like to have him as a long term in-patient.

When sober, the defendant was a polite man who was extremely remorseful for what had happened.

"He has also expressed a wish to get better," said Mr Connor.

Homan-Russell was extremely frank about his drinking habits and knew that was his main difficulty.

In the hospital a number of measures were in place giving him boundaries and it was hoped that the treatment he was now receiving would help him to manage his difficulties in the long-term.