AN ARSONIST from Crewkerne who caused £30,000 worth of damage to a church and woodland area, has been hospitalised and placed under the mental health act.

Tim Hawkins, 22, told doctors he got a buzz out of setting fire to things and that he felt lighting fires gave him special powers.

The court head how on June 30 he committed arson offences by setting fire to altar cloths and attempted to set fire to pews near the altar and electrical cabling, causing over £20,000 of damage.

He then set fire to timber at Bincombe Beaches Nature Reserve, causing a further £5,000 worth of damage.

A doctor’s report read out in court revealed that Hawkins, of Birds Close, had a dependency on drugs and was using ketamine and cannabis.

He also was found to have an underlying mental health condition of paranoid schizophrenia and pyromania.

Prosecuting, Ian Graham said: “This has had a significant impact on the church and the congregation as the number of services has been limited.

“The cost of the damage for the church is estimated to be around £22,000 because specialist equipment is needed to clean the marble.”

The court heard how, since June, Hawkins had been in prison, responding well to medication for his illness.

Reading the medical reports, Recorder Martin Meeke said Hawkins could relapse and may not continue to cooperate as well, especially if he returned to substance abuse.

Defending, Simon Cooper said: “His desire to cause fires is made worse when he is feeling unwell.”

But Recorder Meeke said that he had to consider that Hawkins posed a threat to the public.

He added: “Mr Hawkins accepts that he lit the fires and had done so to make himself feel normal and to make himself feel excited. “He said that he had failed because the church had not been burnt down.

“He has shown no remorse and said it gives him a thrilling feeling.

“I believe he is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and has lost touch with reality.

“He said he felt excited when lighting fires and that it gave him special powers."

Hawkins was sectioned under the mental health act and will be admitted to a hospital in Devon in January.