A MAN who was jailed for his part in a potentially devastating fire attack on a block of flats has lost an appeal against his seven-year sentence.

The occupants of a flat in Roseberry Court in Benfleet were woken by smoke alarms.

Petrol had been used to set fire to an external door.

The flames began outside but spread into the flat.

Inside were three occupants who were sleeping in the early hours and oblivious to what was happening.

Lee Aaron Good, 27, was arrested.

He later admitted arson with intent to endanger life.

He was jailed at Basildon Crown Court in August 2016, following the potentially fatal arson attack in April.

He appealed against his sentence, claiming he had been too harshly punished for his crime.

But three senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London said he got what he deserved.

The judges stated he had instigated the offence.

Judge Peter Collier QC said he had involved two vulnerable people to help his plan.

The court heard Good, of Flanders Field, Colchester, was stopped on the A12 shortly after the attack.

After being stopped by police it was clear he was in a car which police noticed smelled strongly of petrol.

CCTV evidence was also uncovered.

It showed him and two others buying petrol from a service station the previous evening before the attack.

Despite admitting the crime when he was interviewed for a pre-sentence report, and although he said he fully understood the danger he had caused, he tried to put the blame on another person.

In the appeal, his lawyers claimed that Good had not been given enough credit by the sentencing judge for pleading guilty.

But Judge Collier, sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Mrs Justice Andrews, rejected the complaint.

“He was the principal offender,” said Judge Collier.

“He has always known he was guilty of setting fire to the flat and his intention was to put at risk the lives of those inside.”

The appeal was dismissed and the sentence upheld.