A 26-year-old man who set fire to a mattress at his family home and then doused himself in petrol and threatened to set light to himself has been jailed for four months.

Chas Thacker was at his family home at Abbey Farm in Abbey Road, Bury St Edmunds, on September 7 last year when his father became concerned at his behaviour and called the police, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Thacker was spotted near some outbuildings and smoke was seen coming from one of them.

A mattress was subsequently found to have some singing to it, said Peter Clark, prosecuting.

Thacker admitted arson and was jailed for four months.

Sentencing him Judge Martyn Levett said he had a dreadful record with 38 previous convictions, including offences of damaging property, disorderly behaviour, assaults and breaching court orders.

He said on the day of the arson Thacker had doused himself in petrol and threatened to set light to it.

He said psychiatrists had found that Thacker wasn’t suffering from a specific mental disorder but thought he had a personality disorder which could be helped with anger management.