A MAN has pleaded guilty to endangering his family by starting a fire at his house during a suspected domestic dispute.

Anthony Whyman, 42, suffered serious burns when the blaze ripped through the property in Hutton Court, Eye.

He started the fire while police were on the scene dealing with a call raising concerns about the family’s safety.

Officers arrived to find a woman and two children leaving the house as a blaze broke out in the porch in the early hours of February 28.

Whyman was taken to hospital with “potentially life-threatening” burns to his hands and face.

Seven people were evacuated from nearby properties amid fears of a gas leak after the fire had been put out.

Zoe Jefferies, 22, of Hutton Court, told the EADT at the time how she was woken by police officers and moved with her two-year-old daughter to the town’s fire station.

She said: “I was terrified. I just panicked.”

Whyman pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday.

His lawyer, Joanne Eley, said a psychiatrist ruled Whyman was not suffering from a mental condition and was fit to make his plea.

Ms Eley said: “There is no suggestion that he has any type of health issues that would require disposal under the Mental Health Act.”

Whyman will be sentenced on June 17.