A GIRL made repeated attempts to set fire to the children’s home where she was living, Swindon magistrates were told.

The teenager, who appeared in custody, also assaulted two of the staff members at the residential home in Sussex.

Nick Barr, prosecuting, told the hearing on Tuesday that the girl had been abusive and disruptive for most of the day on Saturday, August 5, but things got worse when she was told to go to bed at 10.30pm.

She became aggressing and started shouting threats, yelling at staff: "I don’t care about anyone. You can all die.”

She then left the house and went to the railway station but returned later, went into the dining room produced a lighter and set fire to a bean bag.

Her room was searched and then locked at which point the girl threatened to leave and again said she would burn down the house.

She then went into the kitchen, attempted to light the cooker hob and then kicked and punched a care worker, said Mr Barr.

Taking toilet tissue from the bathroom she lit it on the landing. As a result the house was evacuated and the fire brigade was called.

The girl, who was 15 at the time of the offences and cannot be identified because she is under 18, admitted the allegations.

Diane Lane, defending, said when she appeared before magistrates on August 10 they had considered a referral order for her but were prevented by the fact that social services had nowhere for her to go.

A pre-sentence report had recommended a conditional discharge.

Ms Lane said: “She would actually prefer if you sentence her to a referral order. If she has a referral order she will get ongoing help and support and they will address the areas that clearly need addressing.

“She is a lovely girl. A girl who has had a complete lack of support or help and any sort of consistency throughout her life.”

The girl told the magistrates she was hoping to go to college but wasn’t sure yet what career she was looking for. She was in contact with her mother who lived in the Swindon area.

Social services informed the bench it was looking for suitable accommodation for her with 24-hour support and expected to find somewhere in the Swindon area that day.

The bench agreed to impose a referral order for nine months.