An arsonist who beat up his girlfriend and burned her house down in a vodka-fuelled rage has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Drug addict Peter West, 33, gutted the three-bedroom terrace house in Partridge Green, leaving Lisa Williams and her two young children homeless.

Judge Anthony Niblett said West posed a serious risk of harm to the public when jailing him for the maximum life sentence at Hove Crown Court yesterday.

He said: "Your brain has been seeped in cannabis for most of your adult life.

"Those whose minds are seeped in cannabis are capable of quite extraordinary criminality."

Miss Williams had been seeing West for several months but was becoming increasingly worried about his moods and aggression.

West had been drinking vodka for several hours at his girlfriend's home in Burrell Close, Partridge Green, near Henfield, before starting the fire in May this year.

He suddenly turned violent, punching Miss Williams twice in the face before kicking her in the back.

He screamed at her: "I might as well kill us both now. You are going to tell the police.

"I am going to burn us in the house. You are never going to see your kids again."

Miss Williams fled the house so West started a fire in the living room. Just before 11pm, neighbours heard a loud bang and came outside to see flames licking from the windows.

They fled their homes and it took firefighters an hour to control the blaze.

West went on the run and was arrested three weeks later, following a massive drink and drugs binge.

The court heard West had been a heavy user of heroin, cocaine and crack for several years and was a habitual cannabis smoker.

The judge rejected the assertion that the fire was a failed suicide bid. And he over-ruled a statement from a forensic scientist which claimed neighbours' lives had not been endangered by the fire.

Judge Niblett said: "He made no attempt to alert neighbours or the emergency services of the fire and was content to let the house burn. That to me is a serious aggravating factor.

"When a fire is set in a middle of terrace house, there must always be a risk to the life of neighbours and also firefighters."

West's barrister Liam Pepper said the defendant had shown genuine remorse for his actions and Miss Williams had offered to write to the court to say his actions were out of character and the pair remained friends.

The judge gave West credit for his guilty plea and ordered he should serve a minimum of two years in prison before he is considered for parole.

Miss Williams still owns the house and is having it rebuilt.