A 21-YEAR-OLD man who set fire to a neighbour's £7,000 car after being taunted by friends on Facebook escaped jail yesterday.

The day before the attack, Paul Bruton was told he was being sued by the neighbour over an injury she had suffered in an accident when he was the other driver, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

He went "completely over the top" after threatening her, and being taunted on Facebook that he would not 'have the bottle' to carry the threats out.

Bruton, of Barnfield Avenue, Nailsworth, had admitted arson before Stroud magistrates and was committed to the crown court for sentence.

He received an eight-month prison term suspended for 12 months.

Jos Thomas, outlining the facts before Judge Martin Picton, said the offence took place on May 6 this year.

On that evening a young woman was at home in Barnfield Road, Nailsworth, and her Ford Ka was parked outside. She looked out and saw that the car was on fire and, although a neighbour helped to put the fire out before the Fire Brigade arrived, the car was a complete write-off.

Mr Thomas said: "Bruton was provoked by others on the social networking website saying he would not 'have the bottle' to do anything about it".

Judge Picton said the case was as bizarre as he had come across in a very long time.

"This was a gross over-reaction to civil litigation and there were lots of other ways to express himself rather than buying petrol and setting fire to a car," he said.

Steve Young, defending, said he too was trying to make sense of it.

"It was his personality and self esteem following the taunts on Facebook that made him go completely over the top," he said.

Sentencing Bruton, Judge Picton said: "It was a gravely worrying thing to do.

"The only question is whether the sentence can be suspended.

"I struggle to see why you did it or the reasons you did it. It was astonishingly stupid, muddle-headed thinking."

He told Bruton that normally, arsonists were sent straight to prison but in his case he was prepared to suspend the term.

Bruton was ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work for the community and pay £460 compensation to the owner of the car.