A JOHNSTONE bouncer who used a home-made fire kit he bought in a pound shop to torch his sister’s flat has been jailed.

Jordan Cook stuffed pages of a newspaper doused in white spirit and lighter fluid inside the letterbox of Jemma Cook’s flat in the town’s Dimity Street.

He then set the paper alight, causing damage to the door and filling the property with smoke.

READ MORE: Renfrewshire yob torched sister’s flat with ‘pound shop fire kit’

Cook, 27, pleaded guilty to carrying out the arson attack when he appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court last month.

However, he struck a deal with prosecutors which saw them drop another charge stating he had tried to encourage John Bates, who lived with Miss Cook, to set fire to the flat.

Cook was high on drugs at the time of the offence and was only free because he had been spared jail over a previous court case and then granted bail in another.

Procurator fiscal depute Keri Marshall told the court how Cook was caught red-handed after he had targeted the property at around 11.50am on August 16 last year.

She said police had spotted him at the scene with a lighter in his hand.

Miss Marshall added: “Police officers were aware of an alleged ongoing dispute between the accused and Mr Bates and so, when they saw the accused, they arrested him.”

Cook was found to be in possession of lighter fluid, white spirit and a Metro newspaper which had pages 11 to 34 ripped out.

The fire service were called and they ensured the flat was safe after evacuating the building.

It was stated that officers had found “scorch marks” to the inside of Miss Cook’s front door and embers of the fire, which were sent for testing and found to contain “a composition similar to white spirit.”

The court was also told that Cook, of Sheldrake Place, had bought the white spirit and lighter fluid from the Poundland store in Johnstone town centre.

Sheriff Seith Ireland called for background reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing and Cook, who was remanded in custody, returned to the dock last week to learn his fate.

Defence solicitor advocate Alastair Gray said Cook had been examined by psychiatrists and psychologists and assessed as having “a complex neurological picture.”

It was stated that he suffers from epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Mr Gray said Cook “accepts full responsibility” for his actions on the day in question but asked for him to be spared prison.

READ MORE: ‘Renfrewshire is safer place with this despicable man behind bars’

However, Sheriff Ireland ordered Cook to spend two years behind bars for the offence, reduced from two-and-a-half years as he had admitted his guilt.

He also placed Cook on a Supervised Release Order, meaning he will be supervised by social workers and may have to go to drug counselling for a year after being released from prison.

Sheriff Ireland told him: “You are a danger of offending and a serious risk of further offending to the public.”