A teenage arsonist who gutted a listed church, causing £4.5 million of damage, has had his sentence cut on appeal.

Daniel Finnerty used a deodorant can as a flame thrower to torch architecturally important All Saints Church in Fleet on June 22 last year.

A dance class for five and six-year-old’s was being held in the church hall next door and they could have been killed.

And, in an earlier attack on the church, Finnerty, then 16, had left a Bible smouldering on the altar.

But he will now serve less than two years behind bars, after the Court of Appeal heard how the troubled teenager was now on "a positive trajectory" in his life.

The court was also read a victim impact statement from Rev Mark Hayton, which was originally presented to Winchester Crown Court before Finnerty's sentencing.

In it, the vicar said: "I think I speak on behalf of the parish of Fleet on the whole when I say that we harbour no ill feelings towards this boy.

"We have been praying for him and his family since the incident," the statement added.

The teenager had been condemned as a public danger by a judge after pleading guilty to two counts of arson at Winchester Crown Court.

And in November last year, he was locked up for four years and ordered to serve an extra three years on licence after release.

But on Friday (Oct 14), three Appeal Court judges ruled that Finnerty is not dangerous and his sentence was too long.

Referring to Rev Hayton’s ‘compassion’, they overturned the extended licence period and cut his custodial term to just three-and-a-half years.

The ruling means Finnerty - who will be entitled to automatic release half way through his sentence - will serve just 21 months.

Mr Justice Nicol said the teenager had been diagnosed with ADHD and had not intended to cause such catastrophic damage to the church.

Finnerty struck first when he set alight a candle beside a bible on the church altar on June 16 last year.

A church warden found the bible smouldering and had to take it outside to extinguish it.

Finnerty was back a week later, this time using a deodorant can to spark a blaze that left the 153-year-old church a fire-blackened shell.

The judge said it was ‘a great mercy’ that none of the children in the dance class next door were killed.

Disruptive at school, Finnerty had a problem with drink and drugs and had been homeless for a time before the blaze, the court was told.

'Attempted suicide'

He had twice attempted suicide and had been remanded in a secure children’s home since he was sentenced.

Explaining what he did, he said he ‘felt an urge to do something’, and the judge said that was ‘typical of someone with ADHD’.

The judge, sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Mr Justice Garnham, said the attacks ‘were not planned and there was no intention to cause serious harm’.

'A positive trajectory’

Finnerty was now doing very well in the children’s home and seemed to be on ‘a positive trajectory’, he added.

And the crown court judge’s finding that he posed a danger of serious harm or death to others was ‘not justified on the evidence’.

Although Finnerty is now 18, Mr Justice Nicol urged that he be allowed to serve out his sentence in the children’s home.