A WOMAN from Dursley who tried to set fire to her neighbour's house has been set free at Gloucester Crown Court.

Geraldine Dunlop, 40, of Meadow Vale, Dursley, drunkenly pushed a burning toilet roll and paper through Richard Jones' letterbox, the court was told.

Later she rang 999 in an agitated state telling the emergency services what she had done. When a policeman arrived at the scene she approached him and said "I've been silly, haven't I? What have I done?"

Dunlop, who was arrested and remanded in custody after the incident on September 20, pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to a 12 months jail term suspended for two years.

She was also ordered to undergo a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement and told to attend the ISIS women offenders centre in Gloucester.

Prosecutor Janine Wood said that 9.25pm on the night of the offence a 999 call was received from a woman who said she had been drinking and taking anti-depressants. At 9.48pm Dunlop rang in an agitated state reporting that she had tried to burn her neighbour's house.

"She said they could come and get her," said the prosecutor.

Police attended and found fire debris on the neighbour's doorstep and evidence that something had been put through the letter box.

Dunlop then approached, clearly intoxicated, and spoke to the officer.

After admitting she was responsible she said: "I don't like him [the neighbour]. No one likes him."

Neighbour Richard Jones then arrived home and shortly afterwards Dunlop's partner approached and apologised.

"It appeared a lighted piece of card had been put inside a toilet roll and pushed through," said the prosecutor.

"The neighbour checked inside and there was not much damage apart from slight charring of the letterbox"

In a victim statement Mr Jones said he was concerned about Dunlop being allowed to return home in case she got into the same state again and did something else.

Stephen Ritter, defending, said Dunlop's husband was in court to support her and he was giving up his job so that the couple could do a role reversal and she could once again go into the contract cleaning business, as she had done before.

While in prison on remand for the last two months she had been making good use of her time and had earned several certificates, he said.

Probation officer Jo Hall told the court the priority was to get Mrs Dunlop alcohol-free and ensure she had stable accommodation. If she received a suspended sentence there would be a package of support for her - a key worker and an offender manager would all assist, she said.

All the work with her would be done through the safe environment of the ISIS women’s centre, she added.

Recorder Malcolm Gibney told Dunlop her actions had been 'incredibly dangerous.'

"Stupid," said Dunlop from the dock.

"More than stupid," said the recorder. "You allowed yourself, in depression, to drink far too much and you acted in a way which could have landed you in prison for a very long time. Fortunately, it appears from everything I have read and heard about you that this was something of a cry for help."

"Yes, it was," said Dunlop. "I promise I'm not going to drink again. I don't want to drink when I get home."

Told she was getting a suspended sentence she said: "I really appreciate it. I am not going to let you down."